


They know you walk like you're a god(they can't believe I made you weak)

by princessconsuela



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Angst, F/F, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-29
Updated: 2016-03-28
Packaged: 2018-04-28 18:16:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 28,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5100812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/princessconsuela/pseuds/princessconsuela
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clarke sits with Lexa on the Hogwarts Express in their first year and strike up an unlikely friendship between a muggle-born and a daughter of two Reapers. But that ends when Lexa calls Clarke a mudblood and they never speak again until sixth year comes around.</p>
<p>Title from Strange Love by Halsey.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I know my summary is kinda confusing(Lexa's parents are Reapers?), but all will be explained. This is the first fanfic I've ever written so please let me know if I've made any mistakes in the tagging or in the writing and I'll try and fix it.

"You can run through if you're scared," says Anya, smirking at the obvious fear in her little sister's green eyes as she stares at the barrier between platforms nine and ten.

"I'm not scared," Lexa denies stubbornly.

"Well, if you're not scared, then I can go through first." Anya begins to wheel her trolley, carrying her trunk, her brand new Firebolt, and screech owl, Tristan, towards the barrier. Lexa, afraid to be left alone at King's Cross Station surrounded by strange muggles, swallows her pride and runs through the barrier, a second later her eyes open to see the Hogwarts Express waiting next to platform nine and three quarters.

Laughter behind her makes Lexa turn around to see Anya with the most shit-eating grin spread across her face.

"Shut up!" Lexa growls, which makes her older sister's smile grow even wider.

"I said nothing." Anya says in a mock defensive tone which makes Lexa rolls her eyes. "Just get on the train, Lex, before someone recognises us." The older girl tucks Tristan's cage under one arm, grips her Firebolt in one hand and trunk handle in the other before heading off to the compartment where her friends are waiting.

Lexa presses on through the crowd until she finds an empty compartment at the end of the train. The Hogwarts Express begins to pull away from the platform as she stows her trunk and Warrior, her eagle owl's, cage into the overhead compartment.

"Can I sit here? Everywhere else is full," a voice says from the left. Lexa looks up from the window and sees a girl around her age with blonde hair and really blue eyes, standing in the doorway.

"Sure." The blonde smiles, sliding the door closed behind her and taking the seat opposite Lexa.

"I'm Clarke, by the way. Clarke Griffin," the girl says with a smile.

"Lexa...Woods," she says. She had hesitated before saying her last name, afraid other girl might recognise it. Thankfully, the blonde had no idea who she or rather who her parents are.

They both stare out the window, watching platform nine and three-quarters disappear as they round a corner and pick up speed.

"So, are you excited for Hogwarts?" Clarke asks, breaking the silence.

"I guess. I mean, I've had my whole life to look forward to it. Both of my parents went and my sister, Anya, is in her second year there," Lexa replies.

"That's so cool! Are all your family wizards?"

"Yes."

"Wow. I bet they told you all about Hogwarts and how to do magic and stuff. I'm muggle-born so I had no idea what Hogwarts was until about a month ago."

Lexa tenses at the mention of her blood status. A lesson that her parents have taught her continuously was to "stay away from mudbloods", but she pushes the memories that reinforced that idea to the back of her mind to deal with later.

"So, what do your parents do? If they're wizards then they must have different jobs to muggles." The blonde asks, keeping the conversation going.

"Both my parents were professional Quidditch players and now they work at the ministry." That was sort of true. "What about you? What jobs do your parents have in the muggle world?"

"Well, my mum's a surgeon and my dad was an engineer but he passed away when I was 8," Clarke says, looking down at the floor.

Lexa wants to asks what a surgeon or engineer is but doesn't when Clarke mentions her late father.

"I'm sorry, Clarke."

"It's okay." They sit in silence for a bit until Clarke says,"What's Quidditch?"

//

"Anything off the trolley, dears?" The arrival of a dimpled old woman pushing a trolley stocked with goods, interrupts Lexa as she tells everything she knows and loves about Quidditch to an intrigued Clarke.

Clarke mumbles a no and stares out the window while Lexa stands up, taking out a handful of silver coins from her pocket to pay for a box of Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans, a few pieces of Drooble's Best Blowing Gun and some Chocolate Frogs, Pumpkin Pasties, and Cauldron cakes.

"That's a lot of food," Clarke comments when she sees the armful Lexa dumps onto the seat as the trolley lady leaves.

"It's enough for the both of us," Lexa replies, sitting next to the pile. "Take as much as you want."

"I can't pay you back though." Clarke didn't have any extra wizard gold on her.

"You don't have to," Lexa says, tossing a Cauldron cake into the blonde's lap.

"But then I'll feel guilty."

"Just eat the Cauldron cake, Clarke." Lexa waits until Clarke reluctantly opens the packet and takes a bite out of the cake before helping herself to a pastie.

"Thank you." Clarke mumbles with a mouthful of cake.

"You're welcome."

The two eat their lunch in silence while the train passes through plain country landscape and into the woods.

Clarke reaches over to the pile of food for a Chocolate frog and turns it around in her hand.

"It's not a real frog, is it?"she asks, knowing to expect the unexpected in the wizarding world, a lesson she learnt in Diagon Alley when she saw a cage of savage books with teeth in Flourish and Blotts.

"No, but it still acts like a frog so you have to be careful when you open it," Lexa tells her, taking a Cauldron cake from the pile.

Clarke opens the packet and yelps when the frog hops onto her lap and out the open compartment door. The brunette laughs a little but immediately slaps her hand around her mouth to stop cake crumbs from falling out. Clarke smiles at her, thinking that it must be a rare occasion for this stoic girl to laugh.

"What card did you get?" Lexa asks, pointing at the box still in the blonde's hand. Confused, Clarke looks down and picks up the blue and gold pentagonal card, turning it over to reveal Merlin then handing it to Lexa so she can have a look.

"I have him already, but you can start collecting if you want," Lexa says, giving the card back.

//

Hours later, Clarke and Lexa sit cross-legged on the floor of their compartment, already changed in their black school robes and passing a box of Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans between them while they talk about Hogwarts.

"Do you know what house you're going to be in?" Lexa asks, tentatively biting into a green bean which turned out to be mint.

"I don't know yet. I only know their names," Clarke replies, inspecting a suspicious looking grey bean.

"Well, Gryffindors are supposed to be brave and chivalrous, Hufflepuffs are kind and loyal, Ravenclaws are intelligent and wise, Slytherins are cunning and ambitious," Lexa explains.

"What house do you think you'll be in?"

"Slytherin probably. All of my family members who have attended Hogwarts have been sorted into Slytherin, but that wasn't the case for a family friend of ours."

"What happened?"

"His name is Lincoln and he's in the same year as Anya. Lincoln's parents were Slytherins but the Hat put him in Gryffindor."

"Wait, did you say a hat put Lincoln in Gryffindor?" Clarke says, amused.

"Yes, the sorting is done by a talking hat. You'll see it when we get there," Lexa replies, not understanding why she thinks a talking hat is so funny.

"I wonder what house the hat will put me in."

"Maybe you'll be in Gryffindor since your last name is Griffin," Lexa suggests, which makes Clarke laugh. "But Gryffindors and Slytherins are supposed to hate each other."

Lexa blurts that last sentence out without thinking. Clarke turns to her, eyebrows furrowed and mouth opened to ask why but is interrupted when the train slows to a stop and a voice echoes through the train: "We have arrived at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please leave your luggage on the train as it will be taken up to the castle separately."

"Come on, let's go," Lexa says, standing up from the floor and holding out a hand to help Clarke up. They exit the train together and step out onto the dark platform.

"There you are," says a voice behind them. Lexa turns around and sees Anya walking towards them. "First years take the boats to Hogwarts so you might want to head over to Ridley soon."

"Hi, you must be Anya. I'm Clarke Griffin," Clarke says, holding out her hand. Anya's eyes look down at it, then back up at Lexa, who raises an eyebrow, then back to Clarke.

"I don't do hand shaking," Anya replies stoically. Clarke awkwardly clenches her extended hand into a fist and sets it down to her side.

"First years! First years with me!" the gamekeeper, Cuyler Ridley, yells over the crowd. He stands with a large, bright lantern on the edge of the woods.

"You two better go." Anya turns and heads over to the carriages.

Clarke and Lexa shuffle forwards to join the group following Ridley down a steep and narrow path.

"You're sister's...nice" says Clarke as they trudge through the woods.

"Hand shaking is not really her thing," Lexa shrugs. They continue along the path until they reach the edge of a lake, which is lined with small boats.

"No more than four in a b- Oi! You two stop it right now!" Ridley yells as he runs towards two squabbling boys and pulls the one with a large nose and grey eyes off who Lexa recognises as Wells Jaha, son of the minister for magic.

"Ask your father if he remembers Alex Murphy, the man he imprisoned in Azkaban for stealing dragonpox medicine for his dying son!" the boy with the large nose shouts at Wells.

"You're sharing a boat with me, boy! And don't think this will go unpunished," Ridley says as he drags the Murphy boy to the lake.

"What's Azkaban?" Clarke asks as they get into a boat.

"Wizard prison. It's guarded by Dementors, which suck out your happiness." Lexa thinks back to the last time she was at Azkaban. She and Anya stood outside as Dementors escorted their parents to their cells. She still remembers their rattling breath and their aura that radiated death and despair. They remained as her biggest fear since she first saw them when she was 9.

The boat creaks and sinks a little from the weight of two brunette girls joining them.

"Hi, I'm Raven," says the one with tanned skin and a brace on her leg. "This is Octavia." She gestures to the girl next to her who gives them a friendly smile and wave.

"I'm Clarke. This is Lexa." Clarke introduces the both of them, Lexa gives a small nod of acknowledgment to the other girls before looking out to the lake.

"Everybody in? Alright, FORWARD!" Ridley yells. The fleet of tiny boats begin to glide across the lake towards the cliff where Hogwarts stands tall.

Lexa tunes out of the conversation happening between the other three girls to look for the giant squid that Anya says lives in the lake.

//

Clarke and the other first years follow Professor Indra, a stern and strict woman with short dark hair, into the Great Hall in a line. In front of her, Octavia waves at a boy with curly dark hair and freckles who Clarke assumes is Bellamy, her brother, sitting at the Gryffindor table on the far right. He waves back and gives her a thumbs up.

Clarke looks around the Great Hall as they walk past the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables and spots Anya at the Slytherin table, her arms folded as her eyes scan the line of first years.

Professor Indra sets down a four-legged stool and a dirty old hat in front of the High Table. A rip near the brim opens like a mouth and belches out a short song describing the different traits of each house, an applause echoing throughout the Great Hall when it's finished.

"When I call your name, you will sit on the stool and put on the hat to be sorted," says Professor Indra. "Azgeda, Echo!" she reads from a list of parchment.

A tall girl with light brown hair walks up and sits on the stool. The hat is silent for a few seconds before shouting, "SLYTHERIN!"

The Slytherin table cheers loudly for their newest member while the other houses either clap politely or scowl.

"Blake, Octavia!"

Octavia quietly squeaks when her name is called and hurries forward. The hat barely grazes the top of her brown hair when it yells, "GRYFFINDOR!"

The table on the far right claps and cheers loudly as Octavia runs to join her new house. Bellamy pulls her in a bear hug before sitting her down next to him.

Professor Indra continues to call up names in alphabetical order, but Clarke is too distracted by the enchanted ceiling to notice when she reaches G.

"Griffin, Clarke!"

Clarke's breath hitches in her throat at the sound of her name. She steps forward and sits on the stool, glancing over at Lexa who stares at her along with the entire school while Clarke sits the hat on top of her blonde hair.

" _Interesting_ ," says a voice. " _Courageous, smart, and ambitious. Where to put you, I wonder?_ "

"Where I belong," Clarke says to the hat.

" _Oh I like you. Well then, Clarke Griffin, welcome to_ -GRYFFINDOR!"

The Gryffindors cheer loudly as Clarke takes off the hat and joins Octavia and Bellamy at their table. She looks up to grin at Lexa, who returns it with a silent 'I told you so'.

A few more are sorted before "Jaha, Wells", the boy who was attacked at the lake, is called up. Clarke finds out through the whispering around her that Wells is the minister's son. After about a minute, the hat cries, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

Wells hands the hat to Professor Indra and joins the students wearing yellow and black ties.

"Miller, Nathan" is made a Gryffindor before "Murphy, Jonathan" is called up.

The boy who tried to beat up Wells swaggers towards the stool with a confident smirk. Clarke didn't even see the hat touch a hair on his head before it shouts, "SLYTHERIN!"

Two girls named Fox and Harper,are announced Hufflepuffs before Professor Indra says,"Reyes, Raven!"

Raven grins and limps towards to the stool. The hat is silent for around ten seconds before it yells, "RAVENCLAW!"

Professor Indra calls up more names and the line of first years still standing gets smaller and smaller until it's just Lexa left.

"Woods, Lexa." Professor Indra reads the last name on her parchment.

"Wait, Lexa is a Woods?" Octavia whispers, shocked. All around them, people began whispering about Lexa's parents, it was either about Quidditch or Azkaban.

"Yes, why?" Clarke knew Lexa's parents were professional Quidditch players, but she didn't think they were actually this famous. From what she's heard around her, it was like they were international superstars.

"Don't you know her story?" Clarke shakes her head. "Her parents were like pro Quidditch players, best ones Polis and Tondc ever recruited. A couple years ago, there was a case of a missing muggle family that the Aurors were investigating because the daughter was a witch that never arrived at Hogwarts that year. They found them in the basement of the Woods Mansion, all tortured to insanity. I think they're in St Mungo's now. Anyways, Charles and Ingrid Woods were sent to rot in Azkaban without a trial, which has been happening a lot since Jaha became minister."

Octavia looks up and narrows her eyes at Lexa, whom she thought was quite unfriendly since she had barely said a word to her on the boat ride here. "I bet you she's a Slytherin, just like her whole family."

//

" _Oh a 'Woods'! I thought I already had a house in mind for you, but now I see so much more to your character,_ " says a voice in Lexa's ear.

"Anywhere but Hufflepuff. And you better hurry up and decide," she grumbles to the hat. She remembers her mother telling her that Hufflepuff was a house full of sissies.

" _Well, you certainly don't have the patience to be a Hufflepuff so don't you worry_ ," says the hat. " _Tricky one, you are. But I do love a challenge...Plenty of courage and bravery...Rational thinker...There is a bright mind in here...So much potential and so much ambition...A true born leader, you are. Yes, you will rise high._ "

Lexa has been sitting on the stool for about 5 minutes. She can hear some students beginning to grumble the word "hatstall".

"Will you please hurry up?" Lexa whispers. The hat chuckles at her impatience, then is silent for another few minutes.

" _Well, Miss Woods, I think my original decision seems best for you. Are you ready?_ " the hat doesn't wait for a reply before its voice booms out a deafening "SLYTHERIN!"

The Slytherin table cheer and clap as Lexa hands Professor Indra the old hat and walks over to sit with Anya, who claps her on the back, approvingly. When the applause dies down, Professor Marcus Kane, the headmaster, stands up from the High Table.

"Welcome back to another year at Hogwarts! Let the start-of-term banquet begin!" he says. A feast appears on the tables and the students immediately dig in.

"Griffin is muggle-born, isn't she?" Anya says as she pours pumpkin juice into her goblet.

"Yes, why? Is that a problem?" Lexa ask.

"You know why. Remember what happened to Costia and her family?" Anya likes to open up wounds, which Lexa hates because the memories of the childhood friend and next door neighbour that her parents had tortured, come back. "If you care about Clarke then you need her to stay away from you."

"Why? Mother and father are in Azkaban, they can't hurt anyone."

"They have a lot of powerful friends at the ministry, I'm sure they'll be out in a few more years. Lexa, they've changed so much since they started taking the Red. They are not the parents that raised us anymore, they've turned into monsters."

Lexa nods and looks down at the food on her plate that she's barely touched, deciding on what she must do tomorrow.

***

"Hey, Lexa! I need to talk to you," The brunette turns around to see Clarke catching up to her on her way to her first Charms class. Octavia trails behind her, glaring at Lexa.

"There's nothing for you and I to discuss," Lexa replies coldly, trying to convince Clarke that she hates her. She begins to turn away but Clarke grabs her wrist to stop her.

"Yes, there is. You-"

"Don't touch me, you filthy little mudblood!" Lexa says as angrily as she can, jerking her arm away from the blonde. She avoids Clarke's shocked stare by looking down at her arm, visibly disgusted with herself and not with Clarke though it may seem like the latter. In her peripheral vision, she can see the pain she's caused in the blonde's glassy blue eyes.

"The hell did you just call her?!" Octavia stomps over to Lexa, rolling up her sleeves and balling her hands into fists.

"Octavia! Don't," Clarke holds out her hand to stop the shorter brunette from beating up the other. Octavia reluctantly stands down and folds her arms over her chest, seething. Clarke looks Lexa right in the eye, all the hurt gone and replaced with anger in her stormy blue eyes.

"I wanted you to prove to Octavia that you weren't like your parents. Or any other Slytherin. I wanted her to see the Lexa I thought I was my friend, but obviously she never existed because I know she would never call me that. You are just like the rest of them, Woods," Clarke says, clenching her fists.

"We are what we are," Lexa replies, keeping her face from expressing any emotion before turning around and walking away with watery eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hedahendrix.tumblr.com


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke and Lexa haven't spoken in 5 years. Now they're both Quidditch captains and their first match is next week.

It's an early Sunday morning when Lexa and the other members of the Slytherin team drag themselves and their brooms down to the Quidditch pitch after a quick breakfast. She had managed to schedule training everyday leading up to the first match of the year against Gryffindor next week. The first match with her as Slytherin captain and Clarke as Gryffindor's.

The two girls had barely spoken since their first day at Hogwarts. They mainly tried to ignored each other, which was difficult since they had almost every class with each other every year. Lexa would normally sit near the front whereas Clarke would sit a few seats from the left at the back of the class, not that she noticed. Both would rather pair up with their dumbest classmates than each other for projects, much to the dismay of their professors who believed they were two of the brightest students in their year besides Raven Reyes.

Once in their first year, Professor Nyko had paired Clarke and Lexa to work together on an antidote for common poisons. They refused to acknowledge each other and because of the lack of communication, both of them added a unicorn horn at the same time, which ended disastrously with a melted cauldron and a trip to the hospital wing for Fox and Harper who were unfortunately sitting in front of them.

Outside of class, their interactions consisted of the occasional glare from the blonde and her group of friends, which included all the popular Gryffindors with a handful Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws. Both girls made it onto their house Quidditch teams in second year, Lexa was immediately accepted onto the team as a chaser due to her inherited talent from her parents and Clarke proved to be a surprisingly good seeker. Their positions rarely interacted during the matches they had against each other so it was easy to pretend the other didn't exist.

 

"What do you want to do first, commander?" Anya asks. Lexa rolls her eyes at the nickname she received when Professor Indra gave her the Quidditch captain's badge at the start of term.

Anya had worn the badge since her fifth year but now that she is Head Girl, she had to give up the position to fulfil her responsibilities. Anya was always addressed as Captain by her teammates so it was confusing when Lexa replaced her while she still remained on the team, not that the younger sister wouldn't have been made captain otherwise. The older sister had this grand idea to start addressing Lexa as Commander and soon the whole team began to salute her in the corridors and with a respectful 'Commander'.

"I think we should start with a game of piggy in the middle for us chasers. Anya, you can be the piggy," Lexa says, which makes her sister scowl. Piggy in the middle was played by having one chaser in the middle of the pitch while the other two threw the Quaffle back and forth for them to try to catch and score with. They would swap over when the piggy would score or if one of the outside chasers dropped the Quaffle.

"Beaters can attack and defend while we do that. Ryder, you attack. Quint, you defend." The two seventh year boys who joined the team in Lexa's fourth year were both heavily built but their aiming skills lacked. A bludger to the head this training session will be both a good and bad thing.

"Murphy, you just stay around the goals and stop the pig from scoring. Tris, I gonna bewitch these to fly around like snitches," Lexa digs into her pocket and pulls out five ping pong balls to show her new seeker. "They'll be fast, but I'm sure you can keep up on your Nimbus Two Thousand and One."

The third year girl nods eagerly and kicks off into the air to circle above the pitch. Lexa pulls out her blackthorn, dragon heartstring wand and mutters the spell she read in a Quidditch book she found in the library. The white balls rise up from her palm and shoot off around the Quidditch pitch, Tris already diving down to catch one weaving through the goal posts.

Lexa walks over to the middle of the pitch and opens the crate containing the bludgers and Quaffle. She unbuckles the straps holding down the restless bludgers, which shoot up into the air with Quint and Ryder kicking off the ground after them on their Cleansweep Elevens.

With the Quaffle under one arm, Lexa mounts her Firebolt and kicks off into the air, Anya and Echo following her suit. She blows the whistle around her neck, signalling for the practice to begin, and throws the Quaffle over to Echo, who catches it easily and speeds off towards Murphy at the goal posts. Anya chases after Echo, ducking swiftly as a bludger comes flying to the back of her head and Quint swings his bat to hit it back to Ryder.

Lexa easily keeps up with the other two chasers and catches a well thrown pass from Echo, which Anya narrowly misses. She ducks from another bludger and goes to pass back to Echo but the the Quaffle is intercepted by Anya, who grins as she flys into the scoring area and aims a throw into a hoop. Murphy manages to kick it out before it could score, smirking as Anya growls in frustration.

They continue to train like this for another hour or so until Lexa looks down to see the Gryffindor team watching them from below. She blows the whistle and everyone immediately stops what they're doing.

Outraged at being spied on by the other team, Lexa lands gracefully on the ground and dismounts her broom before marching over to the Gryffindors. Octavia and Bellamy Blake stand protectively on either side of Clarke with their arms crossed as Lexa stops a few feet in front of them, Anya and the rest of her team landing close behind her.

"How long have you been spying on us?" Lexa demands.

"We just got here," says Octavia.

"Liar! I bet you purposefully came here to check out the competition," Anya jabs the tiny brunette in the shoulder. Bellamy shoves her away from his little sister and the Head Boy and Girl have a stare-off.

"Lexa, believe us. We didn't see much, we just came here because it's our turn to use the pitch," Lincoln pleads as he gently pushes Octavia, who had stepped forward to say something, behind him.

"What exactly did you see?" Lexa asks Lincoln, but is shocked when Clarke answers.

"The training method for your seeker. Where did you find that?" she blurts out, staring at the last ping pong ball Tris hadn't managed to catch. Clarke snaps back into reality when she realises she just spoke to Lexa for the first time in years.

"A book. Ever heard of one, princess?" Murphy says mockingly. Clarke scowls and opens her mouth to say something but Lexa cuts her off.

"We'll leave now," Lexa says quickly before a fight breaks out. She pulls out her wand and points it at the ping pong ball, muttering the counter spell which makes it drop onto the grass. " _Accio_." The ping pong ball flys into her hand and she tucks it back into her pocket before leaving, her teammates shove past the Gryffindors and follow their captain to the broom-shed.

"Be ready to get your asses kicked on Saturday!" Octavia calls after them.

"We'll see about that!" Lexa responds over her shoulder.

 

"Gryffindors are just so...infuriating," Anya says frustratingly as she changes out of her robes. "We need to teach them a lesson so they know not to mess with us."

"We just need to intimidate them, that's all," Lexa replies calmly.

"And how do you suggest we do that?"

"I've got a few ideas in mind," Lexa says with a grin.

//

"Fucking Slytherins, man! They think they can do whatever the fuck they want just because they're pure blood," Octavia rants when they begin training. "No, not you, babe. You're different." she says when Lincoln pouts at her.

"Not all of them are like that," Lincoln says, defending his friends' house.

"Yeah, I'm sure. But I was there when Woods called Clarke a you-know-what in first year."

"She's changed since first year."

"I doubt it. She's never apologised to Clarke."

"Can we please get back to training?" Clarke says, annoyed. She was too distracted by Octavia and Lincoln talking about Lexa that she couldn't focus on looking for the snitch. "I really don't want to lose my first match as captain."

"Okay, okay. Jesus," Octavia mutters as she joins Monroe and Jasper who are taking turns throwing the Quaffle into the goal posts while Bellamy blocks them.

Clarke raises an eyebrow at Lincoln when he doesn't chase after a bludger heading towards Jasper.

"Lexa really has changed, Clarke. I would know, we've been friends our whole lives. Maybe you should at least try and talk to her rather than glare at her all the time," Lincoln says, shrugging.

"She needs to apologise first. What Lexa said really hurt and it wasn't because I was called a mudblood, I mean I can handle that. It was because she was the one who called me that so out of blue and there was no explanation as to why she suddenly turned on me." Clarke explains. Lincoln nods, understanding where she is coming from, before flying off to join Miller.

Clarke goes back to searching for the snitch, which she spots after five minutes before chasing after it with her Nimbus Two Thousand and One.

Their training methods weren't as practical as the Slytherins. It was normally just the chasers passing the Quaffle between them and taking shots at scoring while Bellamy would wait at the goal post for someone to try and score. The beaters would just chase after bludgers and hit them away from the other players and Clarke would just search for the snitch on her own.

Gryffindor Quidditch practice has always been like this but they still played pretty decent so Clarke had decided to stick to it, until she saw how well Lexa was training the Slytherins. The brunette had been borrowing Quidditch books from the library and reading them whenever she had a spare moment in class, or at meals, or out in the grounds, not that Clarke noticed or cared. It was when Clarke saw that ping pong method the Slytherin seeker was using that she decided they needed to up their game a bit more.

The bell sounding from the castle signalled for lunch so the Gryffindor team finished up before heading to the change rooms.

 

"We are totally going to kick Woods' ass next week," Octavia says enthusiastically as they walk into the Great Hall.

"We need more practice. Did you see the Slytherin team? They looked like pros and two of their best players have Firebolts," says Monroe, panicking. She was referring to Lexa and Anya who she, Jasper and Octavia have to go up against on Saturday.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure Clarke can whip us into shape by next week, right Clarke?" Octavia gently elbows the blonde before sitting down at the Gryffindor table and helping herself to a bacon sandwich.

"Right. I'm not hungry so I'm gonna head to the library to look for some tips to help us, okay?" Clarke excuses herself and leaves for the library. Madam Sydney glares at her when she walks in with dirt and grass still stuck to her shoes but Clarke shrugs it off. Diana Sydney glares at everybody.

The library was practically empty except for the odd student studying alone at the desks. Good, I can read in peace, Clarke thinks to herself. She plans on staying in the library for a few hours to study up on new training techniques and tactics for the match against Slytherin.

She wanders off into the sports section and brushes her fingers along the spines of the Quidditch titles, searching for one that she thinks has the spell Lexa used in it. She senses movement and looks up to see the brunette standing next to her.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at lunch?" Clarke asks. This was the second time she had spoken to Lexa today after five years of almost nothing.

"I could ask you the same questions," Lexa replies, raising an eyebrow.

"I asked you first."

"I wasn't hungry so I came here. You?"

"The same reasons."

"Were you looking for this?" Lexa reaches up to take out a book from the shelf and holds it out to Clarke, who takes it and reads the title, narrowing her eyes.

"How to train your incompetent Quidditch team? Is this a dig at the Gryffindor team, Woods?" Clarke demands, looking back up at the wide eyed brunette.

"N-no, God no! I didn't mean it that way," Lexa says quickly. "It's where I found the spell I used on the ping pong balls for Tris."

"Oh," she says, surprised at Lexa's kindness towards her since she thought the brunette hated her. "Why are you giving this to me?"

"It's a library, Clarke. I'm not giving this to you, I'm showing it to you so you can borrow it."

"Oh," is all Clarke says. She pretends she didn't notice how Lexa still calls her Clarke when the blonde calls her Woods. She pretends the reason why she never stopped her isn't because she liked the way Lexa said Clarke's name.

They stand in an awkward silence for bit, glancing at each other then looking away when the other notices.

"Is there anything else you would like to say?" asks Clarke, implying that she is expecting an apology or at least an explanation.

She sees it in her green eyes that Lexa understands but the brunette quickly clears her throat and takes out a few books from the shelves.

"I'll see you in class, Clarke," she says before walking away.

"Coward," Clarke mutters under her breath.

"Who were you talking to?" The blonde jumps at a voice behind her. She whirls around and sees brown eyes peering at her in between the shelf and books from the next aisle.

"Raven?" The voice giggles and the brown eyes crease in the corners. They disappear when Raven Reyes walks around the shelf to her friend. Clarke and Raven had been best friends since first year, however their friendship was tested when it turned out they were dating the same muggle boy, Finn Collins, in their fourth year.

"You didn't answer my question," says the brunette, leaning against a shelf.

"I was talking to Lexa Woods and she didn't apologise to me, hence me calling her a coward," Clarke explains.

"Well, next week you can hand her her own ass on a silver platter. Speaking of next week's match..." Raven segways into the next topic, "Professor Indra is letting me commentate on Saturday!"

"Really? Even after the bee incident?"

The bee incident occurred last year at a match between Slytherin and Hufflepuff. Raven was in the commentators box with Professor Indra supervising her when a bee wandered in, causing the brunette to freak out. The game stopped and everyone covered their ears from the horrible noise of the microphone being smashed repeatedly against the wall, killing the bee.

"Hey! You know I am terrified of bees and it's not my fault I scream when I see one."

"You did more than scream, Raven."

"Well, it's autumn so there aren't going to be any bees, are there?"

"I don't know. I guess not."

"Exactly! Now, let's go," Raven stands behind Clarke, slaps her hands on her shoulders and steers the blonde to the front desk so she can borrow her book.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Potions class and other stuff happens

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not a lot of Clexa but wait until next chapter.

"Miss Griffin, you're late," Professor Nyko says, looking up from marking the class register. Clarke had stumbled into her first period Potions class, breathless and red-faced from sprinting from the Gryffindor Tower to the dungeons, late.

"I'm sorry, sir. I slept in," Clarke says, bracing herself on the doorframe, inhaling as much air as she could. 

With their first match against Slytherin in just two days, Clarke had been reading as much as she could of 'How to train your incompetent Quidditch team' without slacking on her piles of homework and assignments that sixth year brought. Last night, Clarke had been up way past midnight reading her book by wandlight and practicing the tricky snitch charm on a ping pong ball, which worked since it whizzed around her dorm room and hit a sleeping Octavia in the face. That was maybe the reason why Octavia hadn't woken her up in time for class that morning.

"You may take a seat." Professor Nyko nods to the only empty seat next to Lexa at a table full of Slytherins. Clarke looks to the table she usually sits at with Raven, Octavia and a few others to see that her seat has been taken by a Hufflepuff girl called Keenan. Raven and Octavia glance between Keenan and Clarke, then shrug at their friend who waves it off and dumps her things next to Lexa.

"Now class," Professor Nyko says to bring the attention back on him, "Today we will be brewing a Draught of Living Death. Can anyone tell me what it does?"

Lexa looks around the class before raising her hand.

"Yes, Miss Woods?"

"The Draught of Living Death is a powerful sleeping potion that causes the drinker to fall into a deep, death-like slumber."

"Excellent! Five points to Slytherin."

The Slytherins send approving smirks and nods towards Lexa, which makes Clarke scowl since they won the House Cup last year, leaving Gryffindor in second place for the third year in a row. 

"You will have one hour to brew a decent attempt at the Draught of Living Death. The best one earns their house twenty points. Your time begins now." Professor Nyko tips over an hourglass on his desk and the sound of cauldrons scraping across the tables and ingredients being set up fills the dungeons.

Clarke is only measuring out her essence of wormwood when Murphy starts talking.

"So, princess, how are you enjoying the Slytherin table?" he asks. The others on their table snigger except for Lexa, who is focused on chopping her Valerian roots.

"I'm not gonna lie, the company sucks," Clarke responds without looking up from her cauldron.

"Fair enough. I mean, you must keep telling yourself that since you're afraid we're probably gonna win on Saturday."

"Keep talking yourselves up, Murphy. It will be so much more fun to see how far you fall when you lose." 

"The only person I see working at that table is Miss Woods. Come on, you lot. You have less than fifty minutes." Professor Nyko calls from his desk at the front. Clarke stops glaring at Murphy to look over at Lexa's cauldron, which is filled with a smooth, blackcurrant-coloured liquid.

Everyone goes back to their potions except for Murphy, who turns to talk to Emori. Clarke's potion turns a similar blackcurrant colour to what Lexa had when she added her Valerian roots, if not a little darker. 

The Sopophorous bean was proving to be extremely difficult to cut since it kept slipping from under the pressure of her knife. It was until the fifth bean she's tried to cut goes flying towards the back of Miller's head that Lexa speaks up.

"Use the flat of your blade to crush the Sopophorous bean. It helps get out more of the juice," she says, looking up from her potion which is the exact shade of lilac the book describes as the halfway mark. Clarke does as she is instructed and presses her silver blade down onto the bean. Dark brown liquid bursts from the Sopophorous bean, which Clarke scoops into her hand and tosses it into her cauldron.

"Uh, thanks," says Clarke. Lexa nods before returning her attention back to her own potion. 

In forty-five minutes, Lexa's potion is the perfect shade of pale pink, signifying that it's finished. Clarke on the other hand is still trying to get her potion to turn clear. Frustrated after stirring counterclockwise for five minutes, Clarke turns to Lexa.

"You don't happen to have any tips on this step, do you?" she asks. Lexa leans over to look at her cauldron then back down at her book which has notes scribbled in the margins.

"Add a clockwise stir after every seven counterclockwise stir. That should work," she says. 

"Why does your book have so many notes in it? Where did you get them from?" Clarke asks after her potion turns clear. 

"This is Anya's old copy. She found it somewhere and became the top of her class in Potions with its help."

"One minute!" Professor Nyko says. Clarke looks back down at her potion, which in no way will be ready in two minutes so she just leaves it to look at everyone else's progress. 

She glances over to Raven and Octavia's table on the other side of the classroom. Octavia's cauldron seems to be spitting some sort of khaki liquid whilst Raven has moved her's, which is filled with hot pink liquid, to the other side of the table. Back at Clarke's own table, Murphy has brewed what looks like liquid liquorice, Emori's cauldron is still purple and Echo is around the same stage as Clarke.

"Time's up, stop stirring!" Professor Nyko begins to walk around the classroom, stopping in front of any decent looking potion to give it a stir or whiff. When he reaches Clarke and the Slytherin's table he passes over Murphy's bubbling concoction and gives Emori nod for her effort. He stops in front of Echo and Clarke's potions and hums an approval before smiling with delight at Lexa's.

"Why, this Draught of Living Death is nearly perfect! I think we have a clear winner. Well done, Miss Woods. You have earned Slytherin an extra twenty points," he exclaims. Lexa gives him a small but proud smile. "An overall good effort for everyone else, however some of you need to spend less time talking and more time working." He gives Murphy and Octavia a pointed look before the bell rings and everyone starts to pack up.

Clarke slings her bag over one shoulder and goes to meet up with Raven and Octavia who wait next to the door for her. Raven seems to be glaring at Lexa's back and ignoring Octavia.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Clarke asks, looking between the two girls.

"I would've been able to win those twenty points if Octavia hadn't gotten some of her potion in mine," Raven mutters sourly.

"Again. I'm sorry," Octavia says before the three girls leave for their Herbology class.

//

 

Lexa sits between Echo and Murphy at dinner, reading the theory on the Aguamenti charm Professor Sinclair has set them to practice. 

"Do you ever not read?" Echo asks halfway through her treacle tart. "Like, seriously, you should've been put in Ravenclaw."

"And yet, here she is," says Anya, plopping herself down across from the two girls and cutting a slice of apple pie.

"What took you so long? You missed most of dinner," Lexa asks, looking up from her textbook and digging her fork into her half-eaten chocolate cake.

"Head Girl and Boy stuff with Blake. Kane called us in for another meeting." Anya glares over her shoulder Bellamy sitting at the Gryffindor table. 

"What did he do now to get your wand in a knot?"

"He suggested we should just let everyone do whatever the hell they want. I don't know how he was even considered to become Head Boy."

"Don't worry about it."

"Yeah. And besides, this Saturday we'll kick his ass," Echo says reassuringly as a group consisting of the Gryffindor Quidditch team rise from the table and make their way out of the Great Hall, probably for their evening practice on the pitch. 

Clarke, who walks at the front of the group, politely nods to Lexa on her way out. Her teammates on the other hand, glare and scowl at the three Slytherin chasers eating their dessert. 

"You sure we aren't going to look stupid on Saturday?" Echo asks, turning around as the last Gryffindor, Monroe, leaves the hall.

"Trust me. We'll look badass," says Lexa.

***

"Trigedakru."

The bricks slide away at the password, revealing a passageway leading to the Slytherin common room, which is mostly empty except for a few fourth years studying by the fire.

Lexa flops down onto one of the leather sofas, nose still buried in her charms book. Echo excuses herself to go to the dormitory to retrieve her own copy so they can practice the Aguamenti spell together.

"So, does Griffin not hate you anymore?" Anya says, hoisting herself up to sit on the back of the sofa.

Lexa glances up to check if anyone can hear them then looks back down at her page when she finds no one eavesdropping. "Why do you ask?" 

"Don't think I didn't see that nod she gave you on her way out. Does she not hate your seemingly purist guts anymore?"

"I may have showed her a library book she'd might like to borrow and helped her out in Potions." Lexa looks up to see her sister's 'You did what?' expression.

"Have you forgotten what I told you in your first year? Have you forgotten what happened to Costia and her family?"

Lexa closes her book and stares at the cover for a while. No, she has not forgotten. How could she?

"I can never forget what they did," she says quietly but harshly.

"What IT did," Anya corrects, "It was the Red and you know that. You just can't get over the fact that she's dead because of what it made them do to her."

The sound of Echo's footsteps coming down the stairs ends the conversation. No one knows anything about the connection between Lexa and the muggle-born girl that was tortured in her basement.

"Okay, I got it," Echo says, waving her charms book as she makes her way over to an armchair next to Lexa. Anya slides off the back of the sofa, mumbling that's she's got patrol and she has to go.

//

Clarke waits for the staircase to switch again before climbing it on her way back to the Gryffindor tower. She had stayed behind at the pitch when everyone else left after practice so she could try out the snitch charm she mastered the night before. In half an hour, Clarke had managed to catch all five ping pong balls she bewitched.

She continues up the flights of stairs, taking three at a time because of her good mood, however it goes away when she runs into Anya Woods on her last flight of stairs.

"What are you doing here?" Clarke asks, surprised to see the Slytherin chaser hanging around the Gryffindor tower.

"I have patrol. I am Head Girl after all," Anya points out, looking down at the blonde from the few steps she has above her. "What are you doing out so late, Griffin?"

"None of your business." Clarke takes a step up but Anya stays put.

"It is actually. I can give you a detention for being outside of your dorm without a good enough reason." Anya folds her arms across her chest and raises an eyebrow, challenging Clarke to test her power as Head Girl.

Clarke sighs, "I had Quidditch practice."

"I don't see the rest of your team."

"They went up before me. I stayed behind at the pitch for a bit."

"Why?"

"That's none of your business. Now, will you stop questioning me so I can go back to my dorm?" Clarke goes to move past Anya but the other girl blocks her path.

"I need to know why you stayed behind. You could've been up to some rule breaking that I might have to report." Anya's tone feigns the authority she actually has to try and piss off the blonde. It's working.

"How do I know you aren't just trying to get details on the Gryffindor's practice sessions so you can report back to your captain?" The older girl glares down at Clarke for her cheek.

"That's it. I'm writing you up, Griffin," Anya says, reaching into her pocket for the notepad where she writes down student infractions.

"No, wait!" Clarke says, quickly. She really cannot get another detention, especially with the match so close. Smirking, Anya slides her notepad back into her pocket and gives Clarke an expression that says 'I'm listening'.

"I was trying out that ping pong method you guys were using at your practice session," Clarke admits.

"How did you find the spell for that?" Anya demands, taking a step down towards the blonde.

"Lexa showed me the book she found it in."

Anya's attention wavers as she scowls at the ground after she hears that, allowing Clarke to slip past her.

"I'm going to kill Lexa," Clarke hears her mutter as she continues her patrol of the staircases.

"Skaikru," Clarke says to the Fat Lady, who swings open at the password to allow her into the Gryffindor common room. 

It is almost ten o'clock and the common room is still quite packed. A lot are finishing off their homework last minute whilst others are just talking or messing around before bed. 

When Clarke climbs through the portrait hole, she is greeted by a few of her fellow Gryffindors who ask their Quidditch captain how training is going and reassuring her that they will win on Saturday. She politely replies to all of them, even though she is tired and slightly pissed off from her encounter with Anya.

Looking around the common room, Clarke spots Trina with her boyfriend, Pascal, but cannot find any of her other friends so she assumes they all probably turned in for the night. Yawning, she makes her way up the stairs to the sixth year girls dormitory she shares with Octavia, Monroe, Roma and Trina.

"Hey," Octavia says quietly, careful not to wake Monroe and Roma. She is lying on her stomach, reading her copy of the Evening Prophet on her bed. 

"Hey," Clarke replies. She nods towards the newspaper, "Anything interesting happen today?"

"No, just a few more Reaper attacks but they sorted that out. Oh, and Tondc won their match."

"Cool. I'm tired so I'm going to go to bed."

"Wasn't your sleep-in this morning enough?" Octavia asks, feigning innocence.

"Ha ha. Never do that again, O." Clarke changes into her pyjamas and gets under her covers.

"Never use a spell on a ping pong ball to make it hit me in the face while I'm asleep, Clarke," the brunette mutters, going back to reading her newspaper.

"Goodnight, O," Clarke says, pulling the red drapes around her bed closed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The match between Gryffndor and Slytherin doesn't end as planned. Clarke and Lexa talk a lot.

The sound of her bed drapes being ripped open and a figure jumping onto her bed wakes Clarke from her light sleep.

"Clarke, get up!" The excited voice enunciates every repeated 'get up' with a jump closer to her pillow.

Clarke groans and rolls away from Octavia. She had tossed and turned, nervous about the match, for hours until she had finally managed to fall asleep a few hours ago. Octavia gets dangerously close to her head before the blonde rolls over and props herself up on one elbow. Clarke shields her eyes from the sunlight being let in from the open curtains and squints at her friend.

"O, what the fuck?" Clarke croaks. Octavia flops onto the bed, breathless and sitting cross-legged with a wide grin.

"It's today, so get the fuck up, Captain! I hope you don't sleep in the nude." The brunette scoots off the bed and swiftly rips the blankets off of Clarke's clothed body, causing her to curl up from the cold morning air.

"Thank God." With that, Octavia goes back to her own bed to change. The rest of the girls in their dorm are already awake, Monroe rubbing her eyes and yawning while she searches for a shirt, Trina sitting up and stretching her arms in her bed, Roma had folded her pillow over her ears when Octavia woke up Clarke.

"The match doesn't start till eleven. It's still early," says Roma's muffled voice. Octavia throws a pair of her fluffy bed socks in the girl's direction, which gives a small thump when it hits her in the head. Octavia was still a bit salty about the time when Roma slept with Bellamy.

Clarke sighs and rolls out of her bed to dig through her trunk for clothes to wear to breakfast. She pulls out a shirt, hoodie and a pair of leggings from the bottom of her greatly unorganised trunk and changes into them. The second she's done, Octavia grabs her wrist and drags her down the stairs and out of the portrait hole towards the Great Hall.

When she and Octavia walk through the door, the Gryffindors at the table stand up to cheer and clap for their captain. Most of the Slytherins hiss and boo, jeering and yelling. Clarke turns her head in the direction of a boy yelling out "mudblood" to see the Slytherin beater, Quint, smirking at her with his arms folded. Lexa shoots him a glare from a few seats away, but Clarke has no time to question it when Octavia steers her by the shoulders and sits her down in front of a plate of eggs, bacon and toast.

"You gotta eat to keep your strength up, Griff. Seekers are always the beater's target, you know," Octavia says matter-of-factly, sitting next to her and piling scrambled eggs on her own plate. Clarke can only watch as her friend wolfs down her breakfast, too nervous to eat.

"Hey, how're you feeling? Ready for your first match?" Raven says as she squeezes in between Clarke and Miller and grabs an untouched piece of bacon off of Clarke's plate.

"I think so. Maybe. I don't know." Clarke rests her forehead in her palms. They had been doing really well in training, but she was afraid it wasn't enough to beat Slytherin.

"Relax. You'll do great." Raven squeezes her shoulder reassuringly before getting up." I've got to go, Professor Indra is expecting me early. Good luck." 

Clarke lifts her head from her palms and watches the brunette limp out of the Great Hall. Shortly after she does, the Slytherin team rise up from the table.

"Where are they going? It's not even time to get changed yet," Bellamy asks, frowning as they exit the hall.

"Maybe they need to go over their game plan again?" Octavia says with a mouthful of toast, "We don't even have a game plan."

***

Clarke holds up a gloved hand to block the sunlight from her eyes as she and her team walk out of the change rooms. The Quidditch pitch had been decorated with Gryffindor red and gold and Slytheirn green and silver. The Gryffindors and most of the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws cheer for them as they enter the pitch with their brooms resting on their shoulders. The Slytherin side continue with the loud booing and jeering from breakfast.

"And here come the Gryffindor team, newly captained by my best friend, Clarke Griffin," Raven's voice says over the microphone. Clarke looks up and smiles at the commentators box where Raven stands with an unamused Professor Indra next to her with her arms crossed.

Clarke meets Madam Byrne at the centre of the pitch to wait for Lexa to come and shake hands. The Slytherin team haven't arrived yet and people were getting impatient.

"Where the hell are they?" Octavia asks, looking over to the entrance where the Slytherins were supposed to enter from.

"I should go see what's keeping them," Madam Byrne says, starting to walk towards the exit but Clarke stops her when the doors lift up.

"No need."

"Finally, the Slytherins are here. Took you long enough," says Raven. 

Lexa walks out first, holding her Firebolt like a guard holding a spear, the rest of her team following behind her. The first thing Clarke notices is the intimidating war paint and stoic expressions they all wear as they march towards the centre. Lexa's war paint is smudged around her eyes and across her temples back to her hairline, three streaks running down her cheeks.

"Ho-ly shit," says Octavia. "I hate to admit this, but they look totally badass." The rest of the team silently agree with her, Jasper and Monroe whimpering as they approach.

"They look like raccoons," Clarke says, trying to get her team to focus. Lexa walks up with her perfect posture and faces the blonde in front of Madam Byrne, a small smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth at everyone's reaction.

"Captains, shake hands."

Lexa holds out her gloved hand which Clarke clasps with her own, expecting her bones to be crushed to scare her even more, but is surprised with a gentle, friendly hand shake.

"Mount your brooms."

Everyone swings their legs over their brooms and kick off. Clarke circles the top of the pitch, waiting for the release of the Golden Snitch, along with Tris the Slytherin seeker. Madam Byrne unbuckles the bludgers from their crate and releases the snitch, which disappears in a flash of gold. She kicks off the ground on her Cleansweep Five with the Quaffle in one hand and whistle between her teeth, swerving her broom to hover between Lexa and Jasper who wait for the Quaffle to be thrown. Madam Byrne's eyes flit between the two chasers before throwing up the red ball and blowing the whistle.

//

Right before the Quaffle is thrown, Lexa gives Jasper Jordan the most intimidating glare she can to scare him, which works since he backs up his Cleansweep Nine away from her. Lexa grabs the Quaffle, smirking as she speeds off towards the goalposts.

"And they're off with Woods in possession. The captain Woods, I mean. No wait, they were both captain. Wait, don't they call new captain Woods something else now. Commander, is it?" Lexa sighs when she hears the voice of Raven Reyes over the microphone. She was playing when Raven had caused the game to stop over her incessant screaming over a bee. 

"The Commander still in possession-no, she passes over to Echo Azgeda, who dodges a nicely hit bludger from Lincoln Forrester."

Echo swerves her Nimbus Two Thousand to avoid Monroe, but is met by Octavia who goes to swipe the Quaffle out of her hands. Echo looks back over her shoulder and does the reverse pass they practiced to Lexa, who catches it and throws it into a goalpost. Bellamy dives but his fingertips miss the Quaffle by inches.

"And Slytherin score! It's now 10 - 0." The green and silver crowd erupt in cheers.

"No sign of the snitch yet, folks. Griffin and new Slytherin seeker, Tris Green, still circling up above. Anyways, Gryffindor is in possession. Blake barrelling down the pitch with the Quaffle. Octavia, of course. Not Bell." Professor Indra's loud exhale could be heard by the entire pitch.

 

The match continues for another half hour with a score of 60 - 30 in favour of Slytherin. The snitch had only been sighted once, resulting in a short neck-and-neck race that ended with a bludger hit dangerously close to the tips of Clarke and Tris' noses.

Lexa dodges a bludger hit by Miller and scores once more before Madam Byrne blows her whistle. 

"Foul! Quint, let go of Griffin's broom right now! Penalty for Gryffindor!" Madam Byrne yells as she flys towards where Quint gripped the tail of Clarke's Nimbus Two Thousand and One, causing her to hinder and shout obscenities at him over her shoulder.

"Looks like Slytherin beater, Quint, has been caught blagging, that asshole."

"Mind your language, Reyes," Professor Indra barks.

"Sorry, Professor. It slipped out. Anyways, Gryffindor chaser, Jasper Jordan, takes the penalty and scores. 70 - 40 to Slytherin."

Anya takes possession of the Quaffle and does the signal for a Porskoff Ploy before flying upwards, Octavia, Jasper and Monroe following her. The Porskoff Ploy would be difficult to pull off for a regular Hogwarts Quidditch player, but Woods' have been practicing this move since they got their Firebolts in first year. 

Lexa flies down so she is about ten feet from the ground, keeping up with Anya so she can catch the Quaffle when it's dropped. A faint flutter of wings and a flash of gold out of the corner of her eyes distracts Lexa from the Quaffle. She turns her head to see the snitch right next to her, then a gloved hand reaching for it. 

"Looks like Griffin has spotted the snitch next to the Commander," says Raven, excitedly. "Oh and Green seems to be catching up too."

Tris was right behind Clarke, urging her broom to go faster. The snitch changes directions and flys upwards, Clarke and Tris following close behind with one arm outstretched. Lexa was now directly five feet under Clarke, who was going to block the Quaffle drop from Anya. 

She looks back ahead of her, speeding up so she can pass Clarke, but a sickening crunch above her and the screams of Raven and the crowd make her look up to see a body falling towards her. It smashes into Lexa, knocking her off her broom and sending them both towards the ground. Lexa lands on her left shoulder, definitely breaking it due the agonising pain, next to a bloody, blonde head.

"Clarke?" Lexa manages to breathe out, the pain giving her double vision of the unconscious body before she blacks out.

***

When Lexa wakes up in the hospital wing a few hours later, she immediately sees seven pairs of eyes staring back at her. Anya sits in a chair next to her with most of the Slytherin team standing at the foot of her bed. Jackson, the school nurse, wraps a white bandage around her sore shoulder.

"Don't move too much, Miss Woods, your shoulder is badly broken," he says.

"What happened? Who won?" she asks her team.

"We did, technically. Tris caught the snitch when Griffin fell. They're still deciding whether they should count it as a win since it was because of Quint's foul," Anya says. Quint was absent from her bedside, probably in Professor Kane's office where his punishment is being decided.

"What did he do?"

"He clubbed Griffin in the head, knocking her unconscious and making her fall off her broom and onto you." 

"Is she okay?"

"She will be fine," Jackson says, pinning the bandage in place on Lexa's shoulder and handing a blue potion for her to swallow before turning around to tend to the person in the bed next to her. Clarke lay there, unconscious with a bandage wrapped around her blonde head. The entire Gryffindor team stood around her either looking nervously at their captain or glaring at the Slytherins.

"How long do I have to stay here?" Lexa asks Jackson after knocking back the liquid which tasted like vinegar.

"Overnight at the least. You need rest for your shoulder to fully heal from the bone mending potion. Your friends need to leave." Jackson turns to the Gryffindors, "You lot have to go too. You can visit Miss Griffin in the morning."

"But-," Octavia starts.

"No, Miss Blake. They both need rest," Jackson ushers the two teams out of the hospital wing before turning back to Lexa. "I will be in my office if you or Miss Griffin need anything."

***

Lexa is scraping the last of her pudding out of her bowl when she hears a loud inhale next to her. She turns her head to see that Clarke has come to, looking around the hospital wing confused before her eyes set on Lexa next to her.

"What happened? Who won the match?" Clarke croaks. The brunette was relieved she had not lost her memory.

"Slytherin, technically. But Quint knocked you out with his bat so they're still deciding whether to let it slide."

"Is that why I have this killer headache?" Clarke gently presses her palm to her forehead and squeezes her eyes shut.

A few moments of silence pass, Lexa assuming that Clarke went back to sleep until the blonde sits up in her bed and turns to face her.

"Wait, why are you here then?" she asks.

"When you were knocked out, you fell off your broom and on your way down you collided into me. I fell too, breaking my shoulder and your fall," Lexa says, setting her half-finished dinner tray onto her bedside table. Clarke considers this for a moment.

"I don't know whether to say 'I'm sorry' or 'Thank you'."

"Don't apologise, it wasn't your fault. And you're welcome." Clarke smiles at her reply.

"How's your shoulder?"

"Hurts." Lexa would shrug, but. "How's your head?"

"Awesome," Clarke replies sarcastically. A small smile tugs at the corner of Lexa's lips before she turns away.

"You should rest," she says.

"I've had enough rest. I'm starving, what's for dinner?" Clarke asks, reaching for her tray.

"The only thing worth eating is the chocolate pudding, unless you like broth."

"I don't." Clarke picks up the pudding and her spoon, taking Lexa's advice.

//

"Can I ask you something?" Clarke says to the screen where Lexa was changing behind.

It was the morning after the match and Jackson gave her the all clear to return to her dorm. Clarke, however, still had to stay for at least another few days until her skull has fully mended. Jackson had given her something for the pain, which made blurt out whatever came to her mind. Lexa had spent most of the night talking to a drugged-up, restless Clarke and stopping her from singing Taylor Swift, who the brunette had never heard of before, at the top of her lungs at 3am. 

"Sure," Lexa replies, her tired voice muffled as she pulls a sweater over her head.

"Why did you shut me out?" They're both dead silent, one expecting an answer, the other afraid to give one. Lexa clears her throat then pushes the screen away so she can look at Clarke, who stares back at her.

"What are you talking about?"

"First year. You were the first friend I made in this new world and then you called me a filthy little mudblood and never talked to me again until last week." 

"Oh." Lexa sits back onto her bed and looks down at her shoes.

"I just never understood why you were so nice to me on the train and then when we got here you said what you said. At the time, I thought it was all my fault that you hated me, that I was the one who did the wrong thing."

"You did nothing wrong."

"See, I realised that and that's why I hated your guts for the past five years. And then you started being all nice to me by showing me that book and helping me in potions and we talked so much last night that I found that girl I shared a compartment with in my first year. I realised she was there all along, she just pushed me away for some reason."

There is a moment of silence as the two girls stare back at each other, trying to read the other before saying something.

"I'm sorry, Clarke. I'm sorry for calling you that awful word, I didn't mean it," Lexa says finally.

"I know that, but I want you to explain why you did it."

"I can't do that." Lexa suddenly stands up and goes to leave but Clarke reaches out and grabs her wrist, holding her back.

"You can't just push me away again!" Clarke exclaims, her watery blue eyes meet Lexa's green ones that are trying their best not to show emotion.

"Yes I can," Lexa replies stoically. She tries to pull her wrist out of Clarke's grip, but this time the blonde isn't letting go that easy.

"Well I won't let you!" 

Lexa lets out a defeated sigh and sits down on the edge of Clarke's bed, the blonde slowly loosening then letting go of her grip on her wrist. The brunette fiddles with a loose thread on her sweater before taking a deep breath and beginning to explain everything.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexa protects Clarke. Again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took longer than usual but you know how school is.

"Lexa, I-." Clarke had no idea what to say to the glassy eyed brunette. What is she supposed to say after what Lexa had told her? Clarke opts for taking the other girl's hand, which at first surprised the brunette, but gave the blonde a small smile.

The hospital wing doors swing open and Raven walks in, stopping still in the doorway when she sees Lexa sitting on Clarke's bed. She raises an eyebrow at them both when she sees that their holding hands.

"I should go," Lexa says, quickly letting go of Clarke's hand and standing up. "I'll see you around."

Raven steps aside to let her out then shuts the door close, turning to face the blonde with a surprised and amused expression.

"Since when were you and Woods gal pals?" Raven says, striding over and taking a seat next to Clarke's bed.

"We're not gal pals," Clarke insists.

"Don't think I didn't see you two holding hands and having a moment. Was it because you literally fell for her that you just had to figuratively do it too?"

"What, no! She-" Clarke is cut off by Raven's rambling, stopping her from revealing everything Lexa had told her about her family and what happened to Costia.

"I mean, I wouldn't blame you. Woods is hot and she's got that stoic badass vibe to her. Actually, they're both like that aren't they? But Anya has better cheekbones, like they can cut glass. Anyways, what we're talking about?"

"I fell ON Lexa, not for her," Clarke corrects her, hoping that Raven's pride would distract her from the subject at hand.

"How dare you correct a Ravenclaw!" Raven says in a mock offended tone. "Anyways, you fell because that ass-wipe hit your head instead of a bludger. Did you know they're still gonna count it as a win?"

"What?" Clarke sits up straighter in her bed, the sudden movement blurring her vision briefly. "No rematch? Even after I got my skull cracked open?"

Raven shakes her head, "The good news is that he's got an entire semester of detention. Bad news, he's still allowed to play on the team."

"Fuck! That is so unfair!" Clarke slams her fist down next to her on the bed, her anger causing the headache to make her extremely dizzy. She holds her head in her hands to stop the room from spinning.

"I know, Clarke, but you need to calm down," Raven says, helping her into a comfortable lying down position. "Getting pissed is not gonna help you get better."

"Yeah, you're right."

"Of course I am. I'm me." Clarke rolls her eyes but still smiles at her friend.

"How'd the rest of the team take it?" Clarke asks.

"They were a lot angrier than you when they heard. They couldn't get to Quint since he was still in Kane's office so a huge fight broke out between them and the Slytherin team at dinner. All of them have detention tonight with Indra, and you know how tough she can be," Raven says, remembering the time Professor Indra caught them both sneaking out to a party in the Hufflepuff common room after curfew. Their detention had been to clean up a mess Peeves had made in the Transfiguration classroom without using magic.

"Anyone get hurt?"

"Well, the Slytherins drew wands, Gryffindor drew fists. It got a little ugly with some Bat Bogey Hexes, Jelly Legs Jinxes, and Octavia dislocating Murphy's jaw before the teachers broke it up."

"Octavia always goes for a physical fight instead of using magic."

Speak of the devil, Octavia barges into the hospital wing and walks with purpose towards Clarke and Raven.

"Rae, I thought we were coming here together," says Octavia, her tone sounded a little annoyed while she pulls up a chair.

"You took your sweet time eating breakfast so I decided come down by myself," Raven replies with a shrug.

"Raven filled me in on the past 18 hours." Clarke looks up at Octavia's face to see a cut lip and a black eye. "What happened to your face?"

"Murphy threw a punch at Miller, but he got me instead. I paid him back though," Octavia says, grinning proudly.

"Yeah, I heard you dislocated his jaw. You could've hexed him or something. Are you a witch or not?"

"Well, maybe it was my muggle half kicking in."

"Excuse you, Octavia, but both my parents are muggles."

Octavia waves her hand, dismissing the matter before changing the subject. "So, how was spending the night next to Woods?"

"Great, judging by what I walked in on," Raven chimes in.

"Oh God, they weren't having sex, were they?" Octavia asks, grossed out.

"Fortunately, fate has spared me from witnessing something that will scar me for life. I saw them..." Raven pauses for dramatic effect, "holding hands."

Octavia pretends to throw up and Clarke rolls her eyes to cover up the fact that she was blushing slightly.

"Woods? Really? I mean, she's hot and all, but she called you 'that word', remember?"

"She apologised and explained why she said it, okay?"

"How the fuck do you explain that?"

"I'm tired," Clarke says quickly to avoid the question. "You guys can come back later."

"Clarke, what-"

"Nurse Jackson!" Clarke calls, cutting off Raven. Jackson's head pops out of the office.

"Yes, Miss Griffin?" he asks, stepping out.

"I'm tired," she says simply.

"Alright, Miss Reyes, Miss Blake. You need to leave," Jackson says, opening the doors and showing them out.

Raven and Octavia get up, throwing a look at Clarke before they walk out the door. The blonde lets out the breath she didn't realise she had been holding as soon as Jackson goes back into office.

//

***

The green-tinted morning light shines through the lake to the windows of the Slytherin seventh-year girls dormitory as Lexa pulls on her school robes and adjusts her green and silver tie. Echo lay on her stomach on her bed, her quill scratching out the conclusion of her Defence Against the Dark Arts essay on non-verbal spells that was due first period. Emori and Caris had already left for breakfast, and Luna was still lightly snoring behind the emerald bed drapes.

"Done!" Echo loudly exclaims as she jabs her quill into the parchment to make a full stop. Luna's snoring is cut off and Lexa can hear her mumble a complaint before pulling back the drapes. Her silver blonde hair was dishevelled and her eyes glared daggers at Echo, who had disturbed her slumber and remained oblivious to it as she read over her essay.

"You had to wake up eventually," Lexa points out as she tucks her brown curls into a braid. "Class starts at 9 and it's already 8:15."

"Whatever," Luna groans, sliding out of bed and rifling through her trunk for school robes. Lexa only knew Luna through Lincoln, who they were both good friends with, and sharing dormitories with her for the past five years. The silver-haired girl was smart and loyal but short-tempered, making her the Slytherin prefect that no one liked to mess with.

"We should head up now," Echo says, rolling up her essay and swinging her legs of her bed.

Lexa follows her out of the dormitory and they make their way up to the Great Hall, which was already quite full. They squeeze between Ryder and Anya at the Slytherin table and Lexa spoons sugar into her porridge as the post comes in. A barn owl drops a copy of the today's Prophet onto her lap and holds out his leg where a pouch is tied to. Lexa pays it with a few Knuts and it flies off out the window of the Great Hall. Warrior, her eagle owl, lands on her shoulder and holds out an envelope with her name written in neat, black ink attached to his leg. She unties it and opens the letter:

_Dear Lexa,_

_As you know, Christmas is approaching. I would like to know if you and Anya will be coming home for the holidays to visit your parents. I'm sure they would like to see you before their trial in a few months. Please send me a reply at your earliest convenience._

_Regards,  
Uncle Gustus_

"I think we should go," says Anya, who was reading the letter over her shoulder. "We haven't come home for Christmas in two years. I'm sure Uncle Gustus would enjoy the company in that mansion."

Gustus Woods, their uncle and their father's brother, had moved into the Woods mansion after their parents had been sent to Azkaban. He had become their legal guardian and managed to take good care of them whilst staying on top of his job as coach of the Montrose Magpies Quidditch team.

"Yeah, alright," Lexa says, reaching into her bag for parchment, ink and a quill. She scratches out a short reply confirming that they will be coming home for Christmas and ties it to Warrior's leg, who takes off and flys out the window.

Lexa goes back to her now lukewarm porridge and flips open the Daily Prophet. A certain article about dementor sightings and attacks makes her gag on her mouthful of oats, pulling Anya's attention away from her pancakes.

"What is it?" She looks over at the newspaper and her eyes skim over the article before looking back at her sister. "That doesn't mean anything."

"Yes, it does. Cage already has the dementors on his side, remember?" Lexa whispers so that their conversation isn't overheard.

"The ministry can handle them."

"But not him. He's been around for a decade and they still haven't caught him, just mother, father and the reapers that he overdoses to make them too savage to care."

"I know you aren't afraid of him, Lex. Not as much as you are of dementors."

Lexa turns her head to look back down at her breakfast, her silence confirming it was true.

"You know how to cast a patronus, you can handle them," Anya says as the warning bell rings for class. Lexa gets up from the table, slinging her bag over one shoulder and leaving for her Defence Against the Dark Arts class with Echo, Emori, Murphy and Caris. Anya, Ryder and Quint, who Lexa had shouted herself hoarse at after he was let out of Kane's office but still allowed him to stay on the team, joined them on their way to seventh-year Charms.

As they turn into the crowded third-floor corridor, they become face to face with a group consisting of Clarke and her group of friends. Lexa had not spoken to the blonde since they were both in the hospital wing, which was two days ago. Clarke looked a lot better and no longer had a bandage wrapped around her blonde head.

The Blake siblings snarl as soon as they catch sight of Quint and surge forward to deck him, Clarke failing to grab the backs of their school robes to hold them back in time. Bellamy grabs the front of Quint's jumper and pulls his free hand away in a fist to punch him.

"Bellamy, don't! As much as I'd like to see him with a crushed face, you'll get a detention for it," Clarke says, pulling Bellamy back and holding out an arm to stop Octavia from continuing what her brother started. The other students in the corridor had stopped rushing to class to watch.

Quint chuckles, "All she offers is no."

Clarke turns to face to the heavily built seventh-year that was nearly twice her size.

"Have I done something to offend you?" Clarke asks in an annoyed tone.

"You don't deserve to be here, mudblood," Quint says, walking forwards to tower over the blonde.

"Quint!" Lexa says to call him off, giving him a glare that says 'If you say one more word, you are off the team'.

"Apologies, Commander," Quint says, getting the message and stepping back.

"It is not me that you have to apologise to." Lexa nods towards Clarke, who gives her a thankful smile. Her friends and the other students behind her stand dumbfounded at the fact that Lexa, a Slytherin with muggle-hating parents in Azkaban, had just stood up for Clarke against her teammate.

Quint makes a disgusted face, "I will not apologies to that piece of fil-"

Clarke cuts off his sentence with a wave of her wand, " _Langlock_!"

Quint gives a surprised choke when the spell hits him. Realising that his tongue was now stuck to the roof of his mouth, he growls in his throat and storms over to Clarke with clenched fists.

Lexa whips out her wand from her pocket and thinks of the first spell that comes to mind, _Levicorpus_. The non-verbal spell gives a flash of light when it lifts Quint into the air by the ankle before he could reach Clarke. Everyone except for the Slytherins in the corridor laugh at Quint as he dangles upside-down in the air, arms flailing and robes hanging past his head. Lexa even cracks a smirk at the sight, she had always wanted to try out that spell.

"You're off the team. I can find myself another beater," Lexa says to Quint, whose eyes widen in shock.

"Lexa Woods, let Mr Quint down immediately!" Professor David Miller, the Head of Gryffindor house and her Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, yells as he marches over to them. Reluctantly, Lexa says the counter-curse in her head, dropping Quint onto the stone floor with a loud thud.

"Miss Woods, I expected better from you," Professor Miller says as he helps Quint up. "Five points from Slytherin and I will be seeing you for detention on Friday night."

"Professor, Lexa was just defending me," Clarke speaks up. Her head of house looks back at the Gryffindor captain.

"And why would she need to do that?" he asks.

"He called me a mudblood, sir."

"I see." Miller looked like he was about to let Lexa off the hook until Quint began to point furiously at his mouth and then at Clarke.

"Oh and I sort of jinxed him after he said it," Clarke adds.

"You did what, Miss Griffin? Well then, as much as I hate taking points from my own house, it is only fair. Five points from Gryffindor and you will be joining Miss Woods on Friday."

Professor Miller performs the counter-curse on Quint, who gasps for air as soon as his tongue unsticks.

"Now all of you get to class!" Professor Miller says to the entire corridor. The sixth-years begin to file into his classroom and the other students hurry off to their own classes.

Clarke and Lexa hang around at the back of the line heading into Miller's class.

"Thanks for sticking up for me back there," Clarke says. "Sorry you got into trouble for it, though."

"You shouldn't have said anything," Lexa replies.

"Detention won't be that bad. At least we'll have each other for company."

They head into class and sit together in between their respective group of friends.

//

"Okay, class. Please take out your essays for collection," says Professor Miller after everyone is seated. Clarke reaches into her bag for her roll of parchment, which had her thousand word essay on non-verbal spells written on it, and sets it down on her desk. Miller waves his wand and twenty essays rise up to stack neatly on top of his desk at the front.

"Today, we will practice performing non-verbal spells. As demonstrated earlier by Miss Woods, your target has no warning of what kind of magic you're about to perform when you use a non-verbal spell. Please do not follow Woods' example and start jinxing your friends in the corridors." The entire class chuckles at the comment. "But that behaviour will be acceptable in today's class. Pair up!"

"Partner?" Clarke asks, turning to face Lexa, who looks back at her friends then nods to Clarke.

"Sure."

When everyone was in pairs, the desks and chairs were moved to the side and each partner stood facing the other on opposite ends of the classroom.

"This side..." Professor Miller gestures to the left, "will attempt to jinx their partner without speaking. Their partner needs to repel the jinx in equal silence. Begin!"

Clarke raises her willow, phoenix feather wand and Lexa does the same with her blackthorn one. Clarke's wand wasn't made for Defence Against the Dark Arts according to Mr Ollivander. It was more suited to healing, which was a coincidence since her mother was a famous surgeon in the muggle world.

"You can go now," Lexa says, readying herself to deflect Clarke's spell.

Clarke takes a deep breath and tries to cast a Jelly-Legs jinx without saying the incantation out loud, and fails. Next to her, Octavia whispers a Knockback jinx under her breath to Raven, who deflects it without saying a word. Her two best friends had been acting weird and tried to get Clarke to talk after she had got them kicked out of the hospital wing.

After trying for a few minutes, Clarke gives up and mutters, " _Locomotor Wibbly._ "

Lexa easily repels the Jelly-Legs jinx in silence.

"Clarke, I saw you say the incantation," she says, lowering her wand.

"I know, but it's really hard. Can we swap over?" Clarke asks.

Lexa raises an eyebrow, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure." Clarke raises her wand again and the other girl mirrors the action.

"Ready?" Lexa asks.

Clarke exhales then nods. The brunette waits a few seconds before sending a jet of light out of her wand. The Jelly-Legs jinx hits Clarke before she can think of a spell to deflect it with. She stables herself on the desk behind her and performs the counter-spell, her legs becoming able to support her weight again.

"Try just mouthing the spell instead," Lexa advises.

 

In forty-five minutes, Clarke had managed to successfully cast a non-verbal spell five times and jinx Lexa once (but the blonde knew she didn't 'accidentally' not use a Shield charm) under the brunette's guidance. Ten minutes before the end of class, the desks and chairs were put back and they sat quietly copying down the homework Professor Miller wrote on the blackboard.

The bell signalling second period rings and the sound of chairs scraping the floor and things being put away into bags fills the classroom.

"What do you have now?" Clarke asks Lexa as they walk out of the room together towards the staircase.

"Ancient Runes. You?"

"Muggle Studies. I only take it because I know everything already." Which was true but Clarke said it in a joking tone.

Lexa gives her a small smile, "Goodbye, Clarke."

"Bye, Lexa."

The two girls part ways, Lexa climbing up the staircase and Clarke taking one down.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Detention. Dementors. Defence Against the Dark Arts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the wonderful comments. Please leave more and you can also come talk to me at hedahendrix.tumblr.com

The library was a lot more crowded than usual, probably because it was one of the warmer alternatives to sitting outside on a late November afternoon. Students sat in groups at the tables either reading, doing homework, or being chastised by Madam Sydney for whispering too loud.

Lexa sat across from Anya at one of the tables in the corner far from Madam Sydney's prying eyes, an area much fought over for its lack of uncomfortable glares from Diana. Her sister had used her Head Girl authority to scare off four third-year boys, who had been drawing phallic symbols in a copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, from the table for them to study at.

Lexa rests her chin in her free hand as she writes out her transfiguration essay for Professor Indra that was due Monday. She refreshes her quill with ink and continues scratching out the sentence she was writing.

"What are you getting Uncle Gustus for Christmas?" Anya asks from behind the propped-up Herbology textbook where she was slouching. The mandrake on the front cover stared back at Lexa instead of her sister.

"I don't know yet," Lexa answers to the mandrake. "Why?"

"I don't know yet either." Anya's head pops back over the book when she sits up in her seat.

"We could pitch in to buy him something from the both of us?"

"Yeah, but what?" Anya chews on the end of her quill while her mind goes off in search of a gift idea. Lexa would do the same if it weren't for a certain blonde walking towards their table.

"Hey Lexa," Clarke says with a smile as she approaches.

"Clarke," Lexa says in friendly greeting. Anya glances up at her sister then follows her gaze to the blonde and takes the quill out from between her teeth.

"Griffin," Anya greets with a tad of hostility in her tone. Lexa hadn't told her that Clarke knows almost everything yet.

"Anya," Clarke says, matching the older girl's tone and slightly narrowing her eyes at her before looking back at Lexa with the kinder expression they had greeted each other with. "Professor Miller wanted me to tell you that our detention tonight is at ten. We're meeting him outside the Forbidden Forest."

"Do you know what we're doing?" Lexa asks.

Clarke shrugs, "He said we'd need our wand."

"Okay, thanks Clarke."

"Is that all, Griffin?" Anya asks rudely.

Lexa whips her head to look back at her sister, "Anya!"

"Actually no, it's not," Clarke says after giving the other blonde a glare. "I saw that you started your transfiguration essay."

Clarke points at the roll of parchment that was half filled with Lexa's neat handwriting, "Well, I kind of need some help. I was gonna leave it till Sunday but I might as well start it since you're here..."

"Sure. Would you like to sit down?" Lexa gestures to the seat next to her.

"Thanks Lex."

Anya raises an eyebrow at the shortened name only she was allowed to use as Clarke moves around the table to sit with Lexa.

"Okay, well I'm gonna go," Anya says, shutting her Herbology book and slinging her bag over one shoulder. "I'll see you at dinner, _Lex_."

Lexa turns to Clarke after Anya leaves the library, "So what do you-"

"I don't actually need help with my essay," Clarke interrupts.

The brunette blinks, "Oh."

"I just wanted to let you know that if you ever need to talk about you-know-what then I'm here for you." Clarke reaches over to place her warm hand atop of Lexa's.

"Thank you for offering, Clarke, but my parents were gone long before they went to Azkaban. Costia died two years ago but she was gone when my parents tortured her to insanity. They already slipped away from me before they left me and I've learned to live with that. I don't think I need to talk about it."

The cold air hits Lexa's hand when Clarke removes her warmth from it to pick up her bag from the table.

"Well, if you _want_ to talk about it then you know you can come to me." Clarke stands up and shoulders her bag. "Dinner should be served soon. Do you wanna walk with me to the Great Hall?"

Lexa nods, "Sure." She packs up her materials into her bag and the two girls walk out of the library together.

"Are you going home for Christmas?" Lexa asks as they join the crowd heading to dinner.

"The last time I was home for Christmas was when I was in first year. My mother's kind of been afraid of my magic since we discovered its existence and she always questions its ways. Over the summer holidays if she gets really annoying, then I go stay with the Blakes. Aurora's been a better mother to me than my real one for the past five years."

"I'm glad someone has your back since your mother doesn't."

"Me too. So are you staying at Hogwarts this year?"

"No, I have to go home to visit my parents. Their trial is in a few months."

"Oh, okay." Clarke looked a little disappointed.

They round a corner and walk into the Great Hall.

Clarke turns to face Lexa in the large doorway, "Do you want to meet in the Entrance Hall later so we can walk down together?"

"Okay. See you later." Lexa gives her a small wave before heading to the Slytherin table.

//

"Well look who's decided to join us finally," Octavia says as Clarke takes a seat across from her at the Gryffindor table. "How's your gal pal that you've been ditching Raven and I for?"

"Lexa and I are not gal pals, O," Clarke insists as she scrapes mashed potatoes onto her plate.

"Really? Cos you seemed pretty eager to rush off in search for Woods after Professor Miller told you your detention details."

"I had nothing better to do and she needed to know, okay?"

"Whatever." Octavia shoves a forkful of pasta into her mouth. "Just don't let Miller catch you two making out against a tree in the Forbidden Forest tonight."

Miller, who was sitting a few seats away from them, looks up at the mention of his name, "I'm sorry? Don't let me catch Clarke and who making out against a tree?"

"Not you, your dad. Clarke has detention with him tonight," Octavia explains. Miller nods with a knowing smile at Clarke before returning to his dinner.

***

Clarke sat on the steps near the bottom of the grand staircase in the Entrance Hall. She had only been waiting for a few minutes when she sees Lexa climbing up the stairs from the dungeons. Clarke gets up and walks over to meet the brunette halfway.

"Hey," she greets. "You ready?"

Lexa nods and they walk out to the grounds together.

The gamekeeper's hut on the edge of the forest still glowed yellow light from its windows, silhouetting Ridley's figure inside it and showing where Professor Miller stood shivering.

"Ah, right on time Griffin, Woods," he says as the two girls approach. "I assume you have both brought your wands?"

Clarke and Lexa nod and they take out their wands from their pockets.

"You may or may not need them, depending on what you encounter in the Forbidden Forest. Just be sure to keep them ready at all times. Tonight, you will be tracking an injured unicorn. I'm pretty sure you have covered animal tracking in Care of Magical Creatures, yes?" They nod again for him to continue.

"We have two trails so you two will follow one while I follow the other. Send up green sparks when you have found something. Send up red sparks if you run into any trouble and I will come as quickly as I can."

"Yes sir," says the two girls.

"Alright." Professor Miller walks them into the forest and points to a spot of silver unicorn blood and hoof prints. "Just follow the trail from there, ladies."

Miller turns and disappears behind the fog and trees in search of the other trail, leaving Clarke and Lexa alone in the forest.

"Okay, let's do this. _Lumos_." The end of Clarke's wand lights up at her words and acts as a flashlight for them in the dark, foggy forest. She shines it onto the silver blood to examine it while Lexa walks slightly crouched over the hoof prints, which judging by the way they moved from side to side the unicorn was swaying dizzily as it walked, deeper into the fog.

"Come on, Clarke," Lexa calls, already twenty feet ahead of the blonde. Clarke looks away from the unicorn blood and jogs over to the brunette.

 

They follow their trail of smeared or spotted unicorn blood and inconsistent hoof prints until they reach a small river where it disappears. Lexa cranes her neck to see if it continued on the other side, which it didn't.

"Maybe it walked through the water?" Clarke suggests. "At least now we have an excuse to finish detention early."

Lexa scans the area for any trace of the unicorn before nodding and turning around to go back.

Clarke goes to follow her but stops at the small cracking noise coming from the river. She turns around to see it slowly freezing over, the ice creeping in from the left side of the river and spreading across its length.

"Uh, Lexa?" Lexa turns around and walks over cautiously to the frozen over lake. She looks up in the direction from where the ice came from, her green eyes widen in fear and she steps back from the dementor that was gliding towards them.

"RUN!" yells Clarke as she sprints back into the trees.

" _Expecto Patronum_!" she hears behind her.

Realising that Lexa wasn't following her, she stops and looks back at the river where the brunette had cast a silvery shield between herself and the dementor.

Clarke sends red sparks into the air, hoping Professor Miller wasn't too far from them, and sprints towards the river without a clue what she was going to do.

The Patronus became weaker as the dark figure came closer, flickering and fading until the dementor was able to suck the happiness from Lexa.

"LEXA!" Clarke cries, not knowing what to do or how to cast a Patronus. She watches as Lexa grits her teeth to stop herself from screaming and tries to pull herself away from the dementor.

" _Protego_!" Clarke sends the Shield charm between Lexa and the dementor, briefly cutting off their connection. Lexa sways and stabilises herself on a nearby tree, breathing raggedly.

"Costia...no," she whispers.

"Lexa!" Clarke runs over to the brunette whilst the dementor remains dazed from the Shield charm.

"Clarke, get out of here. Leave me!" Lexa croaks.

"No way!" Clarke lifts Lexa's arm across her shoulder and wraps her own arm around the brunette's waist to half-carry half-drag her from the river.

The dementor recovers and glides towards them for round two, this time for Clarke. A mouth opens underneath the dark hood and the memories of her father's lifeless body on the road and her father's funeral on that rainy Sunday flash across her eyes. Clarke understood how hard it was not to scream. The memories stop replaying when the dementor is chased away by a silver Labrador patronus.

"Clarke!"

Clarke comes back to reality to see Lexa calling her name and gently shaking her shoulders. Everything remains a blur as Clarke focuses on the green eyes that stare back at her.

Professor Miller steps out of the trees with his wand raised, searching the area for more dementors before heading over to check on Clarke and Lexa.

"Are you two alright?" he asks, anxiously. He helps them sit comfortably on the ground and examines the two of them before conjuring two chocolate bars with his wand. "Eat these. You'll feel better. Stay put while I check if there's more."

Miller leaves the two girls in search of more dementors, disappearing in the thicker fog that the other one had created. Clarke reaches over to grab the chocolate bars and scoots over to the tree Lexa sat under.

"Caramel or almonds?" Clarke offers, trying to lighten the mood.

Lexa shrugs, "I don't mind. You choose."

"I feel like you're an almonds kind of girl."

She gives her a small, amused smile, "I am."

Clarke hands her the almond-filled chocolate and unwraps the caramel one for herself.

"You should have left me behind," Lexa says, mood suddenly changing.

"And let that thing give you the Kiss? Nuh-uh. I need your soul to stay where it is."

They finish their chocolate bars in silence as Professor Miller comes back.

"All clear. Ready to go?" he asks. Clarke helps Lexa stand up and they follow Miller back to Hogwarts.

 

When they reach the castle, Professor Miller bids them goodnight and heads towards the headmaster's office to tell Kane about what happened, leaving Clarke and Lexa in the Entrance Hall.

"Well, goodnight Lexa."

"Clarke, wait. You have something on your face." The brunette gestures to the corner of her own mouth to show Clarke where the gold-brown spot was on her face.

"Where? What is it?"

Lexa steps closer with her fingers reaching out to gently tilt Clarke's chin up, their bodies and faces only inches apart.

"I think it's caramel." Lexa's thumb slowly wipes the corner of Clarke's mouth to remove it, her gaze lingering far too long on her lips that the blonde thought she was going to kiss her. Lexa steps back and clears her throat, probably realising how much personal space she invaded. Not that Clarke minded. _Wait, what?_

"Um, I'll see you around, Clarke. Goodnight." Lexa heads down the staircase to the Slytherin dungeons with what Clarke thought (hoped) was a blush.

//

Snow had begun to fall over the weekend, coating the grounds in a thick white layer which the students had frequent snowball fights on. Lexa would usually just watch but the occasional snowball thrown in her direction by her friends would draw her into the game.

The weekend passed by quickly due to this new past time and soon Monday had arrived. Lexa spent the free period she had before the last class of the day, which was Defence Against the Dark Arts, with Echo and Murphy in the Slytherin common room. They sat on the leather armchairs by the fire, studying and finishing off homework.

"Is this how you spell 'die'?" Murphy asks, holding up his essay and pointing to the word.

Lexa leans forward and squints at his essay, "Die has an 'i' in it. Not a 'y'."

"Goddamnit," Murphy swears, erasing then correcting the spelling error. John Murphy was more street smart than book smart, also kind of an ass but he and Lexa shared the same group of friends so they hung out sometimes. Over their years at Hogwarts, they had become like annoying cousins to each other.

The bell rings for next period and the trio pack up their things and head to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom.

 

"Hi Clarke," says Lexa, taking the free seat next to the blonde and acting like she hadn't almost kissed her on Friday night. Murphy and Echo take the seats on Lexa's left.

"Hey," Clarke greets. Raven and Octavia, who were sitting on Clarke's right side, glance at Lexa when she sits down. Octavia narrows her eyes at her suspiciously whilst Raven smirks and wiggles her eyebrows.

Professor Miller takes his place at the front of the room to begin class.

"Okay, sixth-years. In today's class, we will be learning how to cast a Patronus." Excited chatter on the topic fills the classroom and Clarke and Lexa glance at each other, remembering what had happened on Friday night.

"The Patronus charm is used as primary protection against dementors and lethifolds. It is an immensely complicated and difficult spell, and many witches and wizards are unable to produce a corporeal Patronus. Even to cast an intangible one, which looks and acts like a silver shield, is generally considered as superior magical ability. A corporeal Patronus takes the form of the individual's spirit animal. You may suspect what your Patronus looks like, however you'll never truly know unless you succeed in casting a corporeal one. Okay everyone, wands out and stand behind your desks."

Everyone eagerly does as he says.

"Now to cast a Patronus, one must think of their happiest memory and concentrate on it whilst saying the incantation: _Expecto Patronum_. Observe." Professor Miller takes out his wand and clearly says the incantation. The silver Labrador bursts out from the end of his wand and playfully runs around the classroom. The students' gaze follow it in awe and some of them reach out to touch it, their hands going straight through the silver glow.

The dog disappears with a wave of Professor Miller's wand, "Now you try."

 

"Bet you're gonna pass this class easily," Clarke says to Lexa. "How did you know how to cast a Patronus?"

"I taught myself in second year after I visited my parents," Lexa answers.

"Wow. Do you know what yours looks like then?"

Lexa shakes her head, "I've only been able to produce a shield. I guess I might find out today."

They both return their attention back to their work. Lexa recalls the memory of winning her first game of Quidditch at Hogwarts and concentrates on it, blocking out her surroundings.

" _Expecto Patronum_ ," she says. Something small and silver comes out from the end of her wand. The raccoon lands on her desk and looks around, baring its teeth ferociously.

"Oh. My. God." Clarke stares at Lexa's Patronus with her mouth slightly open in amusement. She giggles and looks between it and the brunette. "I totally see it."

"See what?" Lexa remains focused on her memory.

"It has streaks running down its cheeks like your war paint at the match."

Lexa furrows her eyebrows and looks closer at her Patronus, which sure enough has darker markings around its eyes like her war paint. Even though she was kind of hoping for something more vicious or majestic, she had to admit that the raccoon was very her.

" _Expecto Patronum_ ," Clarke says next to her. Lexa looks over to see a huge, silver lion standing proudly in front of Clarke. "Wow. I did not expect that."

Lexa's Patronus looks over curiously at the lion, who turns to face the raccoon. Clarke's lion opens its mouth in a silent roar, which the raccoon returns with bared teeth. Clarke and Lexa chuckle at their Patronus' interaction, distracting them from the happy memories that kept them there. The lion and raccoon disappear in wisps of silver.

Lexa looks around to see the other students' progress. Raven had conjured a raven that circled above them. Octavia's small swarm of butterflies fluttered around her and landed on her arms and shoulders. After a few tries, Murphy's shark swam around the classroom as if it were filled with water, snapping at the other students.

They were some of the only ones that had managed to conjure a corporeal Patronus in the class. Others could either cast a weak shield or wisps of silver would only come out of their wands.

The bell rings, signifying the end of classes for the day. Everyone stows away their wands, pick up their bags and head out of the classroom to wherever they want to be to spend the hour before dinner.

"Lexa, wait up!" Lexa turns around at the sound of Clarke's voice in the corridor. "Do you have anything important to do right now?"

"No, surprisingly I don't have that much homework. Why?"

"Do you wanna maybe hang out?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know like chill, talk, eat Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans like we did on the train five years ago."

Lexa chuckles, "Sure, where do you wanna go?"

 

"Clarke, we're gonna freeze up here," Lexa says as they step onto the Astronomy Tower balcony. It wasn't snowing, in fact the sun was out, but it did feel like they had just walked into a refrigerator.

"I can fix that." Clarke takes out an empty jar from her bag and points her wand into it, muttering a spell which sent a jet of blue flame into the jar. She sets it down on the ground and sits behind it, gesturing for Lexa to sit on the other side.

She takes out a box of Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans and pops a blue one into her mouth before handing it over to Lexa.

"Not that I don't enjoy your company, but why are you doing this?" Lexa asks, searching the box for a safe-looking bean.

"I want to be the friends we could've been."

"This friendship puts you in danger."

"How? Your parents are in Azkaban."

Lexa pauses and looks down into the blue flames, "They might not be for long."

"What? Why?"

"The trial is in two months. My parents have powerful friends at the ministry who can get them out. And the dementors..." Lexa trails off, unsure of what to tell Clarke.

Clarke leans forward with a concerned expression, "What about the dementors?"

Clarke deserved her trust, after all it had been Lexa's fault that the blonde had acted so hostile towards her for the past five years.

"It's not normal for them to be in this area. They're meant to stay in Azkaban or wherever they're ordered to be. The ministry thinks they can control the dementors, but they're loyalty lies with Cage Wallace."

"Cage Wallace? As in the guy that turned your parents into Reapers?"

"Yeah, him. They're all on his side, which isn't good since they're the ones guarding a quarter of his Reapers in Azkaban."

"Does the ministry know anything about this?"

"Yes, but they're keeping it quiet so they don't start a panic."

"What the fuck? Why the hell do they keep the dementors around then?"

Lexa shrugs, "They can use magic to keep them at bay. They have a good team of Aurors I think will be able to catch Cage soon before anything major happens."

"Have you told anyone else this?"

"I've been sworn to secrecy by the ministry. Please, Clarke, you cannot tell anyone what I just told you."

Clarke thinks for moment, "Okay, you have my word."


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexa goes home for Christmas. Clarke gets a little drunk, talks about her feelings, and compares Lexa to a marshmallow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next couple of chapters are going to be pretty Lexa-centric because it's Christmas and she's visiting her parents in Azkaban

The Slytherin dormitory is darker than usual for a Sunday morning. The lake had frozen over when winter came, blocking the sunlight from shining through the water to give the dormitories and common room its signature emerald glow.

Lexa sat on the edge of her bed to pull on and lace up her boots. She was the only one up at eight am as yesterday was the day Christmas break began, and those who wished to return home for the holidays would board the Hogwarts Express to King's Cross Station today. She had already packed a rucksack the night before of the things she would need at home, leaving most of her spellbooks, textbooks, and other equipment behind in her trunk at school.

The other four girls stir from their slumber at the three knocks at the door. Professor Indra, their Head of House, stands half-in half-out the doorway.

"The train leaves in an hour, Woods. I suggest you go down to the Great Hall for some breakfast now. And take your bag with you," she says, not bothering to whisper so the other girls would wake up.

"Right. Thank you, Professor."

Indra nods before leaving to talk to the others who were going home today. Lexa stands up and folds her coat over one arm, picking up her rucksack with the other.

"See you in two weeks, Commander," Echo says sleepily as Lexa shuts the door quietly behind her.

 

About half of the Hogwarts students are already in the Great Hall eating breakfast in their casual winter attire. It is still lightly snowing outside and they had to take the Thestral-drawn carriages to the platform.

Lexa takes a seat at the Slytherin table and dumps her coat and rucksack in the space next to her. She grabs two pieces of toast from a stack in the middle and spreads butter and jam on them before eating. Anya arrives shortly after and sits next to her little sister, stacking waffles on her plate and drizzling syrup on them. She remains silent throughout breakfast, which isn't like her since she normally has some snarky comment coming out of her mouth every five seconds.

The post arrives and a two tawny owls drop a copy of the Daily Prophet each into Lexa and Anya's lap. They pay them with a few Knuts into the pouches tied around the owls' legs and they take off out the window. Lexa tucks the newspaper into her rucksack to read later on the train.

Students continue to trickle into the Great Hall over the next ten minutes, latecomers rushing in for a piece of toast and a sip of juice around five minutes before they had to leave. Professor Sinclair, Head of Ravenclaw and Charms professor, calls for the students going home for Christmas to make their way down to the Thestral carriages.

Everyone in the Great Hall gets up and make their way into the Entrance Hall to say their goodbyes and to get their names ticked off. Lexa could see Clarke and her friend, Raven, hugging Octavia and Bellamy goodbye before pulling out two presents wrapped in red gift wrap with snowmen print out of a small bag and handing one each to the Blakes. The blonde spots her as the Blakes leave and walks up to where Lexa and Anya stood in line to get their names checked off by Professor Sinclair.

"You weren't going to leave without saying goodbye, were you?" Clarke says, pulling Lexa in an unexpected hug. The brunette hesitates before returning the embrace, Clarke smelled like syrup and firewood from the Gryffindor common room.

"I got you something. Don't open it until Christmas, okay?" The blonde pulls out of the hug and rummages shoulder-deep in her tiny bag, which probably had an Undetectable-Extension charm on it, and pulls out a lumpy package wrapped in green gift wrap with Christmas trees printed on it and hands it to Lexa.

Lexa looks at the gift then back up Clarke, not taking it, "Clarke, you didn't have to-"

"No, I wanted to." The blonde still had the present extended, not backing down.

"But I didn't get you anything. I cannot accept this."

"Yes, you can!" Clarke grabs a hold of Lexa wrist and pulls it towards her to place the present in her hand. "Merry Christmas, Lexa."

She smiles triumphantly and walks away towards the staircase to meet Raven before Lexa could refuse the gift again.

"I knew it," Anya mutters.

"Knew what?" Lexa asks, looking away from Clarke's back(side).

 

The ride down to the platform is short and in silence. The two sisters got stuck sharing a carriage with the Blakes, each sibling pair sitting on either side with Anya and Bellamy glaring at each other whilst Lexa would look back stoically at Octavia's scowl. Lexa understood the smaller brunette's distrust of her, after all she did call her best friend a mudblood and avoided her for five years.

The Thestrals pulling their carriage slow to a stop at the platforms. Lexa and Anya pat the two Thestrals as a thanks, the Blakes look at them confused as to why they were patting thin air. Of course they can't see them, they haven't witnessed death first hand. Lexa and Anya were both there at St Mungo's when they watched Costia fall to her death off the fourth floor balcony.

They board the Hogwarts Express and find an empty compartment before the train pulls away from the platform.

"What did you tell her?" Anya asks, arms folded and eyes staring stoically at her sister in the opposite seat.

"The truth. She had a right to know everything," Lexa replies, staring out the window at the castle shrinking as they made more distance.

"A right to know everything? Lexa, you shared a train compartment with her once in your first year and then you didn't even speak to each other until last month. Now, you're like best buds? Can you even trust her?"

Lexa shifts her gaze from the passing landscape to Anya, "I can and I do. Clarke is a good person with good intentions, she wouldn't betray my trust."

"She has done _nothing_ for you! Why are y-oh no, don't tell me..."

"Don't tell you what?"

"Don't tell me you have feelings for her."

"I do not!" Lexa denies unconvincingly. Yes, she did kind of sort of develop a massive crush on the blonde, but her feelings for Clarke would make her weak and put Clarke in danger. She cannot let another get hurt because of her feelings for them.

"You most definitely do so!" Anya points at her sister's slight blush. "That's the exact same face you had when I asked you if you had a crush on Cos-"

Anya stops herself from bringing up the sore subject.

Lexa dismisses the matter, she got over the pain a long time ago. She reaches for her rucksack to pull out her unread copy of the Daily Prophet, "It doesn't matter anyway. Its not like it can ever happen, or she even sees me that way."

Anya sighs and leans back in her seat, "Oh, my poor gay baby sister."

***

Anya slips back into their compartment with an armful of trolley goods, which she dumps on her seat. She hands Lexa half of the Cauldron cakes, Pumpkin pasties, and Chocolate frogs, leaving herself the other half and the Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, which was her favourite candy.

They eat their lunch in silence and spend the next four hours doing their own thing, except for a few games of wizard chess which Lexa had won in the same four moves, causing her sister to flip the board in frustration. Their chessmen became angry after that and refused to play with Anya.

Lexa sat with her legs tucked underneath her, re-reading _Quidditch Through The Ages_ whilst Anya blew bubbles with the Drooble's Best Blowing Gum to annoy her little sister.

The brunette bats away the fifth bluebell-coloured bubble that is sent her way and looks up.

"Anya. _Stop_ ," she says firmly, causing the older girl to cackle with laughter as the Hogwarts Express pulls up at platform nine and three quarters. The two girls pack up their things and Anya, who is seventeen and of age, waves her ash and dragon heartstring wand to clean up their wrappers.

When they get off the train they are met by their Uncle Gustus, who towered over most of the other witches and wizards picking up their kids at the station. Gustus is their father's younger brother who had become the head of the Woods mansion and Lexa and Anya's guardian after Charles and Ingrid were sent to Azkaban.

"Hello, girls. I hope you had an excellent first term," he says, giving them a nod of acknowledgement. Their interactions with their uncle were always formal and polite, but deep down they loved each other and each of them would slit the throat of anyone who looks at the other the wrong way.

"Thank you, Uncle. Yes we did," Anya says.

"Good, I'm glad."

Gustus turns and leads them out of the crowded platform nine and three quarters and into King's Cross Station, which was filled with muggles who were arriving or taking the train home.

"How was your first game as captain, Lexa?" Their uncle asks as they walk out of the station. As a renowned quidditch couch with a team coming third in the league, of course he would ask about their match before their studies.

Lexa recounts the events of the match, including how she and Clarke ended up in the hospital wing. Gustus had frowned at how unfair their win was and when Lexa had told him about getting herself injured by the Gryffindor seeker.

"Who is the Gryffindor seeker?" Gustus asks, turning into a secluded area behind the station to apparate home.

"Clarke Griffin," Lexa answers with a side-eye glance at Anya, who had a hint of a smirk on her face.

Gustus stops and thinks for a moment, "Griffin? By any chance is she related to Tobias Griffin from the Ballycastle Bats?"

"No, Clarke is muggle-born. Her mother is the muggle equivalent to a Healer and her father was an engineer."

He takes Lexa and Anya's hands in each of his own, waiting for a crowd of muggles to walk by so they can apparate without anyone noticing.

Her uncle raises his eyebrows, "And how would you know that?"

Anya turns to face Lexa but addresses her uncle, "Because Lexa and Clarke are best gal pals."

Anya knew that muggle-borns didn't bother their uncle as he wasn't a Reaper, however he knew the consequences if his brother and sister-in-law found out that their daughter was getting close to a mudblood again.

The brunette shoots a glare at her older sister before looking at her uncle to see his reaction. His stoic face is the last thing she sees before she is tugged into nothingness. After they reappear on the gravel footpath of the Woods mansion, the sickening sensation of apparition subsides and they let go of each other's hands.

The Woods mansion and land was the largest in the neighbourhood with neatly trimmed hedges and stone walls bordering it. Dead ivy crawled up the front of the ancient four-storey mansion, snaking and twisting around the windows which had a layer of snow on the sill. Most of the flowers that decorate the front yard had wilted and died due to the winter, the trees had become skeletons that would scrape on the windows if the wind blew too hard.

As soon as the three Woods reach the foot of the front steps, the door swings open and their house elf, Tippy, stands in the doorway to greet them. Tippy shivers in her towel toga at the cold air being blown in through the doorway, but she smiles brightly nonetheless.

"Miss Anya! Miss Lexa! Welcome home!" she squeaks as they step into the foyer and wipe their boots on the mat. The warmth coming from the multiple lit fireplaces in the house washes over them pleasantly as Tippy closes the door behind them and opens up the coat closet.

"Thank you, Tippy. It is good to see you," Lexa says, shrugging out of her black coat and handing it to the house elf to hang up along with Anya and Uncle Gustus'.

"You are too kind, Miss Lexa," Tippy bows low with a happy smile.The Woods had hired Tippy shortly after Lexa had been born. Their previous house elf, Pokie, had passed away due to old age.

Before they met Cage and became addicted to the Red, her parents only allowed Tippy to do tasks that would help the entire family, teaching Lexa and Anya to do their own chores. In the months leading up to their arrest, they had been cruel to Tippy and would order her to beat herself if they were not satisfied with her work.

"When will dinner be ready?" asks Anya as she brushes some snowing off of her beanie.

"Dinner will be served at 6 o'clock, Miss Anya. It is steak and kidney pie."

"Awesome. I'm going up to my room." Anya climbs up the grand staircase to the third floor where the bedrooms are, Lexa following close behind her. They split off to their own bedrooms on opposite ends of the hallway.

Lexa shuts the door and takes in her neat and tidy bedroom. Tippy had probably been in here to clean while she was away at school to keep a layer of dust from settling on top of her things.

The slate grey walls were decorated with a few posters of the Polis Phoenixes and Tondc Tebos Quidditch teams. Her four-poster queen bed sat between her bookshelf and bedside table on the left side of the room. On the right side was her desk, a full-body mirror, her wardrobe, and her dresser. Dead centre of the room on top of the dark, polished wooden floorboards was a faux polar bear skin rug that took up more than half of the floor.

Lexa slides her rucksack off her shoulders and opens it up to find Clarke's present on top of her belongings. She takes it out slowly and carefully in case it was something easily damaged. The gift was soft and its shape was like a rounded cube. Lexa is tempted to open it, but remembering Clarke's words she opens an empty drawer in her desk and keeps it in there.

The present is a reminder that now Lexa has to get something for Clarke not only out of obligation, but because she wanted to because they were friends, even though she wished they could be more without Clarke getting hurt.

Lexa opens a drawer and takes out some writing materials to place an order for a Broomstick Servicing Kit from Quality Quidditch Supplies.

//

***

The squad was smaller tonight as the Blakes, Lincoln, Wells, Monroe, Fox and Harper had gone home to spend Christmas with their families. Clarke, Raven, Jasper and Monty were the only people in the Gryffindor common room. Raven had decided to stay back at Hogwarts every Christmas since first year to avoid her alcoholic muggle mother. Her mother started heavily drinking after Raven's pure-blood father walked out on them when their daughter was three. Jasper and Monty had been inseparable since birth so they would often stay at Hogwarts for Christmas to be with friends.

They sat in front of the fireplace talking, eating anything they could stick on the end of poker and roast over the fire, and passing a jug of Jasper's latest alcoholic concoction, which he announced as 'Unity Juice' when he came back from his dormitory with it, between the four of them. Jasper had said that he had unified Butterbeer, Firewhisky, and his homemade moonshine into a drink that could have you passed out in only two glasses.

At midnight, Monty had drunkenly come up with the grand idea of making s'mores sandwiches by spearing marshmallows and Honeydukes chocolate between two pieces of bread and roasting them over the fire. It hadn't really worked as the chocolate and marshmallows melted faster than the bread could toast and the contents of the sandwiches leaked into the fire, giving the common room a burnt sugar smell.

"Where's Maya, Jasper? Shouldn't she be spending Christmas with her boyfriend this year," Raven asks, taking a swig from the jug and passing it to Monty. It wasn't difficult to convince the Fat Lady to let in the two Ravenclaws as she had over-indulged earlier in the night with her friend, Violet.

"She had to go home because her dad is hosting some Christmas party for this group of important people I've never heard of," Jasper replies. "What about you, Raven? Didn't you have a thing with that Wick guy?"

"He was an ass, so I dumped him before he left for break."

"Ouch, and right before the holidays. What about your love lives, Monty, Clarke?"

Monty pulls a slightly roasted marshmallow off the poker and pops it in his mouth, "Still single. And no one has caught my interest yet."

Jasper nods and turns to the blonde, "Clarke? Anyone we should know about?"

"Nope," Clarke lies, taking a sip of unity juice. She most definitely did not have a crush on anyone, specifically a certain green-eyed brunette.

"Oh bullshit, Griffin!" Raven says, catching her lie. "You and Woods are all heart-eyes when you're around each other. You even went through the trouble to find a raccoon Christmas sweater for her."

"Shut up, Rae."

Jasper and Monty raise their eyebrows and look at Clarke for an explanation.

"Lexa Woods or Anya Woods?" Monty asks without judgement. This is why Monty is the best person in their squad.

Clarke sighs, she is too drunk and too tired to deny her crush, "Lexa."

Jasper shudders, "She's the scarier one!"

"She's not that scary once you get to know her. Underneath all that, she's a big softie. Like this marshmallow!" Clarke plucks a charred marshmallow off the poker and squishes it between her fingers. She is really drunk.

"Wow. Are you getting some?"

"Don't be gross, Jasper. Lexa probably doesn't even see me that way."

Raven scoffs, "Please. After you gave her that cute as fuck present, I saw her stare at your ass as you walked away. If these guys saw what I saw and see when you two interact with each other, they would know she's that into you."

Clarke takes another swig of unity juice, "I don't know, guys. Like, she's like a goddess ...like she's so smart and kind and selfless and pretty and sexy and she trusts me with that secret..."

Clarke immediately stops talking. She isn't drunk enough to spill Lexa's beans.

"Secret? What secret?" Raven asks, sitting up and looking more alert.

"I'm tired and really drunk," Clarke exclaims to avoid the question. "I'm gonna call it a night."

The blonde gets up, swaying a little from the alcohol and sudden movement, and climbs the stairs to her dormitory. Raven, Jasper and Monty stay where they are, confused by their friend's strange behaviour that was certainly not caused by the alcohol.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this week's chapter! Leave comments. Kudos are much appreciated. 
> 
> Until next time! xxx


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexa visits her parents in Azkaban and Clarke finds something whilst hiding from snowballs on Christmas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it makes more sense to post the Christmas chapter on Christmas but here you go anyways. 
> 
> Not 100% proud of this chapter but I had no idea what to write and that's why its a couple days late so I'm sorry. And I know I said that I was going to be writing more but next chapter is going to be late too because I'm getting my wisdom teeth out and I will be in either too much pain to write or the painkillers they give me make me write things that make absolutely zero sense. Again, I apologise.

The corridors of Azkaban were lined with cells on either side, most filled with pale, bone-thin prisoners dressed in grey rags, either muttering nonsense under their breath, rattling their cell bars and screaming, or sitting deathly quiet and staring at the wall. However every single prisoner they walked passed would snap out of their psychosis and press their bodies as close as they could through the bars so they would be near the patronus accompanying Anya and Lexa.

The Auror that is escorting them had casted his boar patronus before they entered the prison, providing a protective barrier from the dementors and their depressing aura as they make their way to the visitation rooms. Its presence brought relief from the dementors as long as you remained in its vicinity.

They encountered two dementors during their time at Azkaban, both had glided over the patronus' shield and continued their patrol of the corridors. On their backs were a silver glowing 'M' signifying that they were still under Ministry control.

The Auror stops them in front of a door at the end of the corridor and opens it for them. The visitation room is small with no windows and a low ceiling. There is a table with four chairs, two on each side, in the middle of the room and a door on the opposite side where her parents will enter in a few minutes.

Anya and Lexa take a seat next to each other and the Auror positions himself in a corner, his patronus disappears since they had no need for it anymore.

Lexa fiddles nervously with a loose thread on the sleeve of her sweater. She had not seen or heard from her parents since she was ten and they were being taken away to Azkaban. She had not wanted to after what happened with Costia.

She was prepared for the worst. Her parents would probably walk through that door all monstrous and hateful from the Red like the last time she saw them. Maybe even slightly more insane after their time here.

 

The door on the opposite side of the room opens and her father, Charles, shuffles in closely followed by her mother, Ingrid, and two guards.

Judging by the prisoners Lexa passed in their cells, her parents weren't as unstable as she thought they would be, however they looked a lot worse than their fellow inmates. It must have been the effects of their withdrawals of Cage's Reaper drug.

Even though they had been imprisoned for several years, they look as though they had aged twenty. Their once brown hair had turned grey and stringy, Charles' reached just pass his shoulders and Ingrid's brushed her the top of her hips. Their faces were gaunt and wrinkled with dark circles around their eyes. Their once tanned skin had paled from the lack of sunlight that managed to get through the small amount of windows in Azkaban. The muscle they built and maintained through Quidditch had atrophied over years of physical inactivity, and what little food they'd been given was not enough to keep them from looking like skeletons.

The two guards guided her parents into the seats opposite them. Charles had a vacant look on his face, completely ignoring his daughters but muttering something under his breath. Ingrid, however, had not stopped staring at Anya and Lexa since she walked through the door, her expression unreadable.

She tilts her head curiously at them and looks up at the guard whilst pointing to Anya and Lexa as if asking him who they are.

"Your daughters," the guard replies, rolling his eyes. He must deal with prisoners like this every day.

Ingrid furrows her eyebrows in confusion and shakes her head. She looks to her husband for answers, but Charles was still in his own world.

The Auror steps forward, "I don't think they recognise you, girls."

This was not something Lexa had expected. She thought they would still be the same people who tortured Costia, who forced her watch as they did so, who left her and Anya to take care of themselves whilst they went off with Cage and the other Reapers to do God knows what. The effects of the Red must have worn off them over time.

Of course, their years in Azkaban would have made them lose some of their sanity, but they should of at least recognised their own two daughters.

"I brought a picture of us when we were kids if that would help," Anya says as reaches into her coat pocket and takes out the photo that she quickly grabbed on their way out of the house.

She unfolds it and smooths out the creases before turning it to face their parents. She had chosen the one where Lexa and Anya were eight and nine, it was Christmas and they sat by the fire opening presents. They were tearing off the wrapping paper of their brand new Nimbus Two Thousands and then they ran out of the photo because they wanted to go outside to try them out.

"Lexa. Anya," Ingrid says fondly as she smiles down at the picture, remembering their last happy Christmas together as a family.

She frowns suddenly and looks back up at them, "Where did you get this? Did they give it to you?"

"No, we're-"

The Auror clears his throat to cut off Anya and bring the two girls' attention on him.

"We don't know how they'll react if you tell them who you are," he whispers quietly to them so their parents don't hear. "They have not seen you two in years. Their time here has made them mentally unstable. Who knows what they will do?"

The sisters nod understandingly and turn back to their parents, who seem to have not realised that they were talking about them.

"Yes, Lexa and Anya did give us the picture," Lexa answers her mother's question.

"Really? How are they?" Ingrid asks eagerly. "It was Anya's first year at Hogwarts this year, wasn't it?"

Lexa realises that six years hadn't passed for them. They still think that their daughters are the same age as they were the last time they saw each other.

"Moth-Ingrid, how long do you think you have been in here?" Anya asks after giving a side-eye glance at her sister.

"Why, we only just arrived a few weeks ago. Didn't we, Charles?" Ingrid pats her husband's shoulder, which draws his attention from his muttering.

"Hm? Oh yes! Sadly, our daughters haven't visited us yet," Charles says.

"They need time after what we did, especially Lexa. I mean, that poor Costia girl was her friend after all. Do you know what happened to her? To the girl we tortured?" Ingrid asks them, her hazel eyes suddenly switch from happily oblivious to remorseful and guilty.

Anya looks over to her sister and whispers, "Do you want me to answer this or...?"

"No, it's fine. I can do it," Lexa says before addressing her parents. "Costia was admitted into St Mungo's after your arrest. She committed suicide after seeing your daughters again when they went to visit her."

 

It was true.

Two years ago, Lexa and Anya had gone to visit Costia over the summer holidays. When she saw them it immediately triggered the memories of her time in their basement and she ran from them, screaming. Lexa, however, tried to calmly her down, but Costia would have rather jump off the fourth-floor balcony than talk to her, which she did.

 

Anya tries to change the subject and asks, "Your trial is next month. Have you heard anything from Cage or-"

Charles and Ingrid's eyes both widen with fear at the mention of Cage Wallace. Their mother covers her ears with her hands, shaking her head violently and squeezing her eyes shut. Their father folds his arms on the table and buries his face on them, muffling his screaming.

"We should have told you not to mention him. His name pulls them back to the memories of what he made them do under his control," the Auror explains.

"Forgive us," Ingrid mutters repeatedly. "The terrible, unspeakable things we have done. Forgive us."

"Okay, this visit is over. Take them back to their cells," the Auror orders.

The guards go over to take Charles and Ingrid away but Lexa cries, "No, wait!"

The guards hesitate before one replies, "I'm sorry, ma'am, but if you do anything too sudden they can lash out at you."

Lexa ignores him and rests her hands on her mother's shoulder to gain her attention. Ingrid slowly opens her eyes looks back at her.

"They forgive you. Anya forgives you. Lexa forgives you," she says to her mother.

Ingrid calms down, looking back into her daughter's eyes before a smile spreads across her face.

"My Lexa has lovely green eyes like yours," she comments.

Lexa smiles, "I got them from my father."

"So did she! What a coincidence!" Ingrid points to Charles' excitedly.

Charles stops screaming and lifts his head up from his arms. He looks back curiously at Lexa, something flickering in his own green eyes. He reaches for the picture and slides it towards him so it is under the table and starts his muttering again.

"Hopefully, our daughters come and visit us soon. Please, tell our girls that we love them very much."

"Consider it done," Anya says with a smile.

Two cold hands clasp Lexa's and slips something thick with sharp corners into her palm.

She looks up to see Charles bringing his index finger to his lips and making a quiet 'shhh' noise whilst balling her hand into a fist around the object he gave her.

Lexa glances back at the guards and the Auror waiting impatiently at their respective doors to see that they did not notice anything. She turns back to her father and nods her understanding, slipping the object into the back of her jean pocket.

He smiles before following his wife out of the visitation room.

***

"Lexa, you're overthinking this," Anya says, reading over the note for the fifth time. Lexa had taken out the object her father had given her as soon as they arrived home to find that it was the photograph they had brought but with her father's messy scrawl written on the back in blue muggle pen.

She had shown only Anya the back of the photo and now her sister sat cross-legged on Lexa's bed as she moved around her room, taking anything she needs at Hogwarts since she is going back sooner than planned.

"No, I am not," Lexa insists as she weighs two novels in her hands. "It says that Hogwarts isn't safe, doesn't it?"

"If Hogwarts isn't safe then why the hell are you going back there as soon as you can?"

"Because I have to warn the headmaster about Cage. He has plans for Hogwarts and I bet it has something to do with muggle-borns."

"Father wrote that Cage had a spy within Hogwarts. What if it's a teacher? They would be one of the first people to know after you tell Professor Kane that Cage is up to something."

Lexa stops packing to consider this. Anya had a point, a spy would most likely be a teacher since they would acquire the most information about the going-ons of Hogwarts.

"Our parents still think that I'm eleven and you're ten. What if Cage had started making these plans ages ago and then decided not to go through with it in the six years they'd been locked up?" Anya continues.

"Or what if his plans took him six years to develop into something that turns into the Third Wizarding War?" Lexa retorts, shoving an extra jacket into the rucksack.

Her sister raises an eyebrow, "So Cage is the new Voldemort now?"

"He _is_ a dark wizard _and_ he has a large group of followers so yeah, Cage is the new Voldemort!"

Lexa stuffs a few more books and her wand into the rucksack and secures the flap closed before shouldering one of the straps and heading out.

"It's Christmas Eve, Lexa. You could at least stay for tomorrow," Anya calls after her.

Lexa hesitates with her hand on the doorknob.

She sighs and dumps her rucksack by the door.

"Fine."

//

_Christmas Day_

They were having a school-wide snowball fight with the remaining students at Hogwarts after Christmas lunch. Raven had decided early on in the game to solely target Clarke and since her leg brace made it difficult for her to chase Clarke in the snow, she had taken out her wand and bewitched every step the blonde took in the snow to turn into a snowball and chase her until she was slow enough to pelt.

"Raven, this is so unfair!" Clarke yells at her friend as over twenty and counting snowballs chased her across the school grounds.

Just out of Whomping Willow's reach, Raven is doubled over, laughing her head off along with the rest of the participants who had stopped playing to watch Clarke run into the castle so no more snowballs would be created by her footsteps.

A sharp pain in her abdomen forces her to slow down a little bit, allowing a few snowballs to collide with the back of her head. She turns a corner and slips into a classroom with its door slightly ajar. She slams it shut and leans her back against it, catching her breath as at least forty snowballs pelt the door in an attempt to get Clarke.

Her stitch slowly goes away with each exhale and while it does, she takes notice of the classroom she ducked into.

Judging by how the desks and chairs were piled against the walls and the layer of dust on everything, the classroom hasn't been used for teaching in a while.

The magnificent mirror propped against the wall facing Clarke was hard to miss though. It was as high as the ceiling, with a gold frame and an inscription carved around the top: _Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt wohsi_.

Once she hears the last snowball crumble as it hits the door, Clarke steps closer to the mirror, wanting to see her reflection in it, but as soon as she steps in front of it she finds that she is not alone. She whips her head to look behind her, but the people surrounding her in her reflection were not there.

Her reflection is wearing Hogwarts graduation robes instead of snow-covered winter attire. Behind her are her friends in either graduation robes or casual clothes, smiling and clapping along with the Griffin family and someone she never thought she'd see again any time soon.

"Dad?" she whispers to the man standing next to her with his hand on her shoulder. Jake Griffin looks and smiles at her. He had an arm around her mother, who for once looked happy for her daughter since she was crying tears of joy at her graduation.

Suddenly, Lexa steps into the frame and takes her hand. Clarke turns her head to look at the empty space next to her, disappointed that the brunette isn't actually holding her hand or actually there.

She is also in graduation robes, grinning proudly at Clarke before pressing a kiss on her cheek. Clarke's heart skips a beat and she lifts the hand that Lexa is holding in her reflection to brush her fingertips over the blushing area where the brunette had kissed her.

Clarke steps even closer until her breath fogs up the cool glass. She presses a hand to that of her reflection, hoping to somehow fall through to that universe where her father is still alive and Lexa is her girlfriend.

Clarke stands there for God knows how long until she remembers that her friends were probably looking for her.

Reluctantly she steps back from the mirror, letting her hand slide away from the glass.

"I'll be back," she tells them, walking backwards so she can devour as much of her enviable reflection with her eyes as possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just realised that because of time zones I'm going to be in surgery when The 100 season 3 trailer comes out. Nooooooooo!!! :(
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Leave comments below telling me what you think!
> 
> Bye!


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexa returns to Hogwarts and Clarke has a slight obsession with the mirror.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is long overdue I know.

Clarke doesn’t know how long she’d been in that classroom for. She doesn’t know how long she’d been sitting on the cold stone floor, staring enviously at her reflection in the majestic mirror. She doesn’t remember the last time she ate but it didn’t matter because she can just sustain herself off of the fulfilled desires that the mirror shows her. Besides, Mirror Clarke looks happy and healthy, and she’s her reflection.

 

It had only been a couple of days since she hid from Raven’s bewitched snowballs in this classroom and discovered the mirror, and each visit she had since then became progressively longer. She had thrown random excuses at her friends to stay here as long as she could before they got too suspicious and worried, which they probably were but Clarke wouldn’t know. Only the small nagging voice in the back of her head that told her she had to pee or eat something could force her out of this room, but as each day passed, the voice got quieter and quieter.

 

 

Night must have fallen since the classroom became even darker without the little light that was able to shine through the chairs and desks piled up against the dust-caked windows. The voice isn’t completely silent yet as Clarke decides she still has to take care of some of her basic needs, so she stretches out her stiff, crossed legs and gets up off the floor. She sways a little when she stands, probably because she hadn’t eaten in a while.

 

Taking one last, longing glance at Mirror Clarke’s happiness she leaves the classroom for perhaps a goblet of pumpkin juice to quench her thirst.

 

Clarke didn’t realise how late it is until she walked past the closed library on her way to the Great Hall. It must be passed curfew for the corridors to be this quiet, and even if it is the holidays the caretaker, Shumway, would still be patrolling the halls for students out of bed. Not to mention Peeves and his cackling that could wake up the entire castle to see her breaking curfew.

 

As Clarke turned around to climb up the stairs to the Gryffindor dorms she bumps into someone coming down them.

 

“Shit. Sorry about th-,” Clarke stops mid-apology and blinks several times to make sure that it was really Lexa in front of her and not the person that was smiling next to her reflection.

 

“Hello Clarke,” Lexa says, surprised but happy to see her.

 

“H-Hey! When did you get back?” Clarke manages to stumble out.

 

“Last night. I’ve been looking for you all day, where have you been? I was worried about you.”

 

Clarke perked up a little when she heard that, “You were?”

 

She sways again from her low blood sugar and Lexa quickly stabilises her by placing her hands firmly on her shoulders.

 

“And I was right to be,” Lexa says, feeling her forehead and scanning her face. “Are you okay? What happened? Do you want me to take you to the hospital wing?”

 

“I’m fine, Lexa. Just tired.”

 

“You don’t look ‘just tired’. When was the last time you ate?” Lexa asks, concerned and worried.

 

Clarke leans forward and drops her head onto the brunette’s shoulder, shutting her eyes.

 

“I don’t remember,” she mutters into her neck. She feels Lexa’s strong arms gently push her back and hold her a little closer than arms length.

 

“Okay, we need to get some food in you then take you to the hospital wing. You clearly are not well.”

 

“I don’t want to go to the hospital wing!” Clarke whines, burying her face against Lexa’s lovely, warm neck. “I want to sleep!”

 

Lexa moves away to look at her in the eyes and Clarke whines again at the loss of her warmth.

 

“Clarke, you need to eat something first or you won’t have the energy to make it up the stairs.”

 

“Fine, but no hospital wing!”

 

“No hospital wing,” Lexa confirms. “Only if you promise you won’t collapse on me.”

 

“I promise.” Clarke rests her head back onto Lexa’s shoulder and grins when the brunette sighs and wraps an arm around her waist to support her. “But isn’t dinner over?”

 

“Yes, it was cleaned up two hours ago. I’m taking you to the kitchens,” Lexa replies as she guides/carries the sleepy blonde down the grand staircase to the Entrance Hall.

 

“You know how to get to the kitchens?”

 

“Why do you sound so surprised?”

 

“I’m not. It’s just that I thought Jasper and Monty only told our group when they figured it out.” 

 

“They may be the most mischievous students at Hogwarts after the Weasley twins, but we Slytherins know most of the secrets of the castle.”

 

“Care to share some of them?” Clarke yawns.

 

“Maybe later,” Lexa says as they arrive in front of the painting of the bowl of fruit in the Hufflepuff Basement. She extends one hand and tickles the pear, which squirms and laughs until it transforms into the green door knob to the kitchens.

 

Lexa pushes the door open and the house elves inside turn to face the two girls who had just entered their kitchen. One of them rushes towards them and bows low.

 

“Evening, Miss and Miss! What can we do for you?” he says eagerly.

 

“We’re sorry to bother you this late, but would you happen to have anything leftover from dinner for Clarke? I think it’s been a while since she’s eaten last,” Lexa asks politely.

 

The house elf’s face lights up at the new task, “Of course, Miss! In fact, we will cook up whatever Miss Clarke would like!”

 

The tiny elf ushers them to sit at one of the tables as the others gather around them excitedly.

 

“You got pancakes?” Clarke asks them, even though it’s pointless since the house elves have literally every ingredient for every recipe under the sun.

 

“Pancakes, of course!” The house elves rush off to start the dish, snapping their fingers to make eggs crack and bowls mix on their own. Some of them return to cleaning up and the rest pour them mugs of hot chocolate and glasses of water, which Clarke immediately drains hers in one go.

 

Their hot chocolates barely had time to cool before a stack of pancakes the height of the average house elf is set before Clarke along with a fork and knife. Maple syrup, jam, whipped cream and various other pancake toppings were placed in front of them too.

 

Clarke pours syrup over the stack and carefully cuts a piece from the top pancake. She takes a bite out of it and lets out a moan at how good it tastes.

 

“This is amazing! Best pancakes I’ve ever had in my life. Thank you so much,” she says with a mouthful of pancake.The house elves beam at the praise and bow before returning to their business. As soon as they were out of earshot, Clarke lowers her voice, “Help me eat this, I don’t think I can finish it on my own.”

 

“Not until you eat at least four,” Lexa replies, taking a sip of her hot chocolate.

 

“That will be no problem.” Clarke piles on whipped cream and before long, a quarter of the stack is already gone. 

 

//

 

“Clarke?” Lexa says, gently shaking the blonde who laid her head on the table to ‘rest her eyes’ a few minutes ago. “Clarke, you can’t sleep here.”

 

“Why not?” Clarke whines, her eyes still closed. “It’s nice and warm down here.”

 

“It’s also a kitchen. It’ll be nice and warm in the Gryffindor dormitories too.”

 

“But that’s too many flights of stairs away,” Clarke huffs, lifting her head off the table and rubbing her tired, bloodshot eyes. “And I don’t remember the password.”

 

Lexa sighs and helps Clarke up from the table, “I guess you can stay in the Slytherin dorms for tonight.”

 

“Okay,” the blonde grins sleepily before turning to the house elves. “Thanks for the food, guys!”

 

“Anytime, Miss and Miss! Here,” The house elves push a plate of freshly baked cookies towards them. “Take as many or all of these as you want. Would you like them in a bag?” One of them already starts filling them a brown paper bag.

 

“I think that’s enough cookies, thank you,” Lexa chuckles when half the plate is gone. The house elf expertly folds up the bag so it is airtight and hands it Lexa.

 

“Goodnight, Miss and Miss Clarke! We hope we can be of service to you again soon!” The house elves squeak as the portrait door shuts behind them.

 

They walk in silence to the Slytherin Dungeons, Clarke only yawning four times and both of them only ducking behind a suit of armour to avoid Shumway once on their way.

 

“ _Ai laik Leksa Woods en ai gaf gouthru gon Slytherin hou honon_ ,” Lexa says confidently when they arrive in front of the wall outside the Slytherin common room. The bricks part and reveal the passageway for them.

 

“What does that mean?” Clarke asks as they walk into the common room.

 

“It means ‘I am Lexa Woods and I seek passage into the Slytherin Dungeons’.”

 

“That’s your house password?”

 

“For me it is. You just use your own name.”

 

“So I can use it and get into the Slytherin common room whenever I want?”

 

“No, because it only works if you’re a Slytherin.”

 

They climb the steps to the girls dormitories and quietly slip in to avoid waking up Echo and Luna, who had decided to stay for the holiday break.

 

“You can have my bed. I’m sure Caris wouldn’t mind if I used hers.”

 

“I can’t kick you out of your own bed, Lexa.”

 

“Well, I think Caris wouldn’t want to come back from break to find blonde hair belonging to the Gryffindor quidditch captain on her pillow. And I highly recommend not sleeping in Emori’s bed because who knows what she and Murphy do when the dorms are empty.”

 

Clarke nods and sits down on Lexa’s bed to pull off her shoes, “Hope you don’t mind sharing then.”

 

Despite the fact that Lexa has maybe a tiny crush on Clarke, she really doesn’t mind sharing her bed with her. The worst that could happen is the two of them waking up to Lexa accidentally spooning her and things would get awkward and ruin their friendship.

 

Lexa places the bag of cookies on her bedside table and opens her trunk to pull out two pairs of pyjama pants and two tank tops for Clarke and herself. 

 

“Here,” she says, tossing a bundle of clothes at her before turning around to change. As soon as she hears the shuffling of blankets she looks back to find that the blonde is already fast asleep. Smiling softly at how peaceful Clarke looks, Lexa slips under the covers and lies facing away from her, hoping that the hammering of her heart doesn’t wake up the sleeping blonde.

 

 

 

As it turns out, the worse did happen in a way. Lexa woke up to an arm draped across her waist and a warm body pressed against her back. She freezes when she realises that her top had probably ridden up as she slept and her bare waist was in direct contact with Clarke’s arm.

 

There is a loud chewing noise from the bed next to hers which Lexa looks up to find Luna eating her cookies on Echo’s bed. She looks up and grins at the glaring brunette.

 

“Morning,” Luna says through a mouthful of cookie. She smirks and jerks her chin at Clarke, “Fun night?”

 

“Could you please lower your voice? You’ll wake her up,” Lexa whispers back.

 

Luna chuckles, “Don’t worry, Griffin still looks pretty out of it right now. Makes me wonder what you did to her last night.”

 

Lexa slowly slips out of Clarke’s arms and gets out of the bed, the blonde still fast asleep, “We did nothing!”

 

“Then explain why you have the Gryffindor quidditch captain in your bed. You better not get soft on her on the pitch because I’ve got bets with Gryffindors on who’s going to win the cup.”

 

“I bumped into her last night and she was unwell so I took care of her because she didn’t want to go to the hospital wing. It was late and she didn’t remember the password to the Gryffindor dorms so I let her spend the night here. We didn’t do anything.”

 

“Tell that to your top then,” Luna points out. Embarrassed that she was still exposed, Lexa quickly pulls her tank top down over her waist.

 

Luna stands up and sets the empty bag of cookies aside, “So I’m gonna go because I’m hungry and kind of don’t want to be here when your girlfriend wakes up so I’ll see you later, Woods.”

 

As soon as the silver-blonde hair disappears behind the door, Clarke speaks up behind her.

 

“We spooned, didn’t we?” she asks. Lexa turns around to find Clarke lying on her side and looking up at her with red-tinted cheeks.

 

“Clarke, you’re awake. Are you feeling better?” Lexa asks to avoid her question.

 

“Yeah a little.” She sits up in the bed and hugs her knees to her chest. “Still tired but I’m fine.”

 

“You can go back to sleep if you want. I won’t disturb you from getting the rest you need.”

 

“No, I’m fine. I should probably get back anyways. Raven hasn’t seen me in over a day so she’ll be running around the castle and flipping over tables to look for me.” Clarke chuckles and throws the covers off her so she can get out.

 

Lexa shifts her body to fully face her, “Why is that?” 

 

Clarke looks back at Lexa with a confused expression, “Because she’s one of my best friends and she gets worried if I disappear and don’t tell her where I am. I’d do the same for her.”

 

“I meant why hasn’t anyone seen you in over a day. When I bumped into you last night you looked sleep-deprived and you didn’t remember when it was the last time you ate. You don’t have to tell me where you went, Clarke, I just want to know if you’re okay.”

 

Clarke sits back down and fiddles with the corner of a sheet, “I found something a few days ago in a classroom. A mirror. And it showed me things that I wanted to see…or happen. I’ve been going there for the mirror and I’d just stay there for hours. I think it got to the point where I didn’t know how long I’d been there for, but it didn’t matter because all I needed was the mirror and everything my reflection had.”

 

“You found the Mirror of Erised,” Lexa says. She knew exactly what Clarke had found and what she was going through, she had been in her exact same shoes two years ago.

 

“You know what it is?”

 

“Yes. I discovered it in my fourth year and my obsession with it was far worse than yours.”

 

“What did you do?”

 

“I was like how you were yesterday but for longer. The mirror was all I thought about and I began to lose myself over it. When Anya started to notice I wasn’t at meals and the bags under my eyes, she followed me one night and tried to get me to stop. When she reached out to me I broke her jaw. As soon as I heard the bone crack I snapped out of whatever trance the mirror put me in and took Anya to the hospital wing. I haven’t come within 50 feet of that classroom since.”

 

“That must’ve felt awful. To hurt someone you love.”

 

“It did. And Clarke, promise me you won’t go back there. Ever. No matter how much you want what the mirror shows you.”

 

Clarke looks surprised by the intensity of her tone but her face softens a little when she says, “I promise.”

 

After a moment, Clarke gets up and says, “I should really get back to my dorm now.”

 

“Yes, Raven must have turned half the castle upside down looking for you by now.”

 

Clarke chuckles and steps behind one of the emerald green drapes of the bed to change back into her own clothes. Lexa swallows thickly as her tank top and pyjama bottoms are thrown back onto her bed one after the other, knowing that there is an almost naked Clarke on the other side of the drapes. 

 

In less than thirty seconds the blonde emerges dressed in her clothes from yesterday, pulling her hair back in a messy bun.

 

“Wait, Lexa, why were you out past curfew?” she asks.

 

Lexa blinks before thinking back to answer it, “I was in Kane’s office. I came back early to tell him about Cage and how Hogwarts isn’t safe with him still out there. His followers could be anywhere, anyone.”

 

“Are you implying that there’s a spy here?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“What did he say?”

 

“He told me he trusts every single staff member and student with his life and that this isn’t something immediate for the Ministry or me to worry about.”

 

“And do you believe him?”

 

Lexa shrugs, “I want to.”

 

“We can trust Kane to take care of Hogwarts. And if any problems arise he would think of protecting his pupils first.”

 

“I hope you’re right, Clarke.”

 

//

 

The middle of January brought a light layer of snow on the grounds of Hogwarts. The castle was coated in white and whenever you went outside, in a few minutes there would be snowflakes dusting your head and clothes. 

 

Because Lexa made her promise, Clarke had not been to visit the Mirror of Erised since that night, even with the itching temptation whenever she'd use the fourth-floor corridor.

 

Clarke had just finished her final class for the day, Care of Magical Creatures, an hour of Professor Pike scolding her for not cleaning out the fire crab cages properly. She had done her best despite trying to not get third degree burns on her arms so Clarke thought to herself that Pike could go shove a fire crab up his ass.

 

She takes off her beanie as soon as she is inside the castle to brush snow off of it before tucking it in her bag and heading over to the library where she was to meet Raven and Octavia for their Divination study group. Octavia was already seated at a table and waves her over.

 

“Clarke, have you booked the pitch yet for practice?” Octavia asks as soon as she sits down.

 

“Hello to you too, Octavia, “ Clarke says. “And you know it’s impossible to get a good time in right now. The Slytherin/Ravenclaw match is before ours with Hufflepuff so we can’t practice without having to get up at the crack of dawn or staying out in the dark.”

 

Clarke empties out her bag on the desk and flips through her Divination textbook for the half-finished essay she slid between the pages.

 

“Maybe we should! Even though the Slytherin win was complete and utter bullshit they were still kicking our asses on the pitch! I think we need to up our game here,” Octavia pushes.

 

“SHHHH!” Madam Sydney appears from behind a shelf and glares at them before stalking back to the front desk.

 

As soon as the librarian leaves, Clarke whispers back, “I’m open to suggestions, O, but I think our Divination essays are the priority right now.”

 

The exasperated brunette leans back in her chair and folds her arms. 

 

“Fine,” she mutters. Clarke knew quidditch was a lot more important to Octavia than it was to her, and to her it was very important, but they had their N.E.W.T level classes to worry about now and scheduling practice was a lot more difficult with the next match deciding who would play in the semi-finals.

 

“Hey guys!” Raven greets them a little too loudly from across the library. She ignores the glare from Madam Sydney and hobbles over to their table. 

 

Her brace had become less of a hassle than when she got it in her third year from a car accident. Her mother had been drunk-driving and in result they collided with another car on their passenger side, where Raven was sitting. She lost nearly all-feeling in her left leg, something that could have been easily fixed by magic had her mother allowed St Mungo’s to rehabilitate her. Raven had also been chosen as Ravenclaw’s new seeker the previous year, however she found that with her brace it was too difficult to balance on her broom. After she quit playing she started commentating on matches, and in her fourth year she began to dabble with broom upgrading by combining her skills as the top sixth-year Hogwarts student and part-time mechanic in the muggle world.

 

“Hi Rae,” the two girls say in unison as she takes her seat.

 

Raven flips open her messenger bag and takes out writing materials and the 16-inch in length parchment already almost covered in her messily scrawled essay.

 

“How are you already done?” Octavia exclaims, leaning forward so she can have a closer read.

 

“I had a vision,” Raven jokes.

 

Clarke rolls her eyes, “You’re not Raven Baxter, Raven.”

 

“Maybe I’m not but how else would you explain why I’m so good at Divination?” the brunette asks.

 

“Not this muggle show again,” Octavia groans. “I’m tired of hearing about this teenage seer that cannot eat mushrooms.”

 

They ignore the younger brunette who was raised in the magical world unlike Clarke and Raven, therefore she had no idea what ‘That’s So Raven’ was when the other two girls joked about it in their first Divination class.

 

“I refuse to boost your ego, Reyes. It’s already ridiculously large,” the blonde says.

 

“You’re too stubborn, Griffin. And I already knew you wouldn’t answer properly. Why? Because….”

 

Clarke and Octavia sigh, knowing full well what Raven was about to do…or sing. Hopefully she wouldn’t get up to rapping Orlando’s bit this time.

 

“ _It’s the future I can see. That’s so Raven. So mysterious to m-_ “

 

“OUT!” Madam Sydney shouts, storming over to their table. Everyone in the library turns in their direction to see what is about to go down, a fair few snickering behind their books. “ALL THREE OF YOU GET OUT AND DO NOT COME BACK! YOU ARE HEREBY BANNED FROM THE LIBRARY AND I WILL TAKE THIS UP TO THE HEADMASTER AND YOUR HEADS OF HOUSE!”

 

“But-“ Octavia begins to protest.

 

“DO NOT ARGUE WITH ME, MISS BLAKE! YOU ARE JUST LIKE YOUR HOOLIGAN BROTHER AND HIS GANG OF HELLIONS! NOW GET OUT OF MY LIBRARY YOU RIFF-RAFFERS!”

 

The three girls gather what they can before Madam Sydney is practically dragging them out by the backs of their robes. 

 

“DISTURBANCE IN THE LIBRARY WILL NOT BE TOLERATED!” she yells at them one final time before slamming the double-doors of the library in their faces.

 

“Bitch,” Raven says to the wooden doors.

 

Octavia glares at the other brunette, “Nice going, Rae. Now where am I supposed to write my essay?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's divination and Raven, how could I not reference one of my favourite Disney channel shows of all time?
> 
> I'm not sure if that trigedasleng phrase is correct. I couldn't find the word for 'dungeon' or 'prison' in the online dictionaries so i just used the words for 'home' and 'prisoner'.
> 
> Leave a comment down below of your thoughts, feelings, spelling or grammatical errors or if something doesn't add up in the story and I'll fix it in the morning. Yell at me for taking too long for this chapter here or at hedahendrix.tumblr.com and remember Fear The Walking Dead season 2 premieres April 10th at 9/8c.


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